ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey will not formally approve
Finland and Sweden’s membership of
NATO until the two countries take the necessary “steps”, Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan told alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg Friday.
اضافة اعلان
Ankara has accused the two Nordic nations of
providing a safe haven for outlawed Kurdish militants it deems “terrorists” and
held back on ratifying their NATO membership despite an agreement in June.
“President Erdogan noted that the steps to be taken
by Sweden and Finland would determine how fast the approval process ... would
go and when it would be concluded,” the Turkish presidency said.
Erdogan and Stoltenberg held a private meeting in
Istanbul that was closed to the media.
Finland and Sweden dropped decades of military
non-alignment and scrambled to become
NATO members in May, after Russia invaded
Ukraine.
But Erdogan threatened to block their bids and
sought concessions, leading to a deal in June between Turkey, Finland, and
Sweden that included provisions on extraditions and sharing information.
New Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will
visit Ankara on Tuesday to meet with Erdogan in a trip that Stockholm hopes
will lead to Turkey’s approval.
Stoltenberg “welcomed the major, concrete steps
already taken by both countries to put the memorandum into practice, and stressed
that their accession will make NATO stronger”, the alliance said in a statement
on Friday.
On Thursday, the NATO secretary general said Finland
and Sweden’s accession was important “to send a clear message to Russia” during
a press conference with the Turkish foreign minister.
All 30 NATO member states except Turkey and Hungary
have ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland.
New members to the alliance require unanimous approval.
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