Turkey Will Not Approve Sweden, Finland Joining NATO

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey late Monday reiterated Turkey’s objections and said the country will not approve Sweden and Finland’s bid to join NATO.

This is as the Turkish President criticized them for failing to take a clear stance against terrorist organizations.

Erdoğan’s remarks came after the Nordic countries officially announced their intention to apply for the membership in the military alliance after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey had said last week that it would not view their applications positively, mainly citing their history of support to terrorist organizations, including the PKK and its Syrian wing, the YPG.

Erdoğan said at a joint news conference with his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune in the capital Ankara; “Neither of these countries have a clear, open attitude toward terrorist organizations. How can we trust them?”

He added; “First of all, we cannot say ‘yes’ to those who impose sanctions on Turkey, on joining NATO which is a security organisation.”

Sweden and Finland had imposed arms export embargoes on Turkey after its military operation seeking to clear northern Syria east of the Euphrates of the YPG in 2019.

Erdoğan described Sweden as an incubation center for terrorist organizations, saying some members of its parliament supported the PKK.

He added that Sweden and Finland rejected to extradite people with links to the PKK and Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the terrorist group behind the defeated coup of 2016 in Turkey.

The Justice Ministry also said on Monday that the two countries had not granted approval to Turkey’s request for the extradition of 33 people with links to the PKK and the FETÖ.