Erdogan reiterates not supporting Finland & Sweden's NATO bid until they 'keep their word'

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO will not be backed by Ankara unless both nations fulfil their commitments to tackle terrorism. Speaking at a meeting with Turkish ambassadors to foreign countries, Erdogan said that Turkey has a "clear and strong position" concerning Sweden and Finland. He asserted that the countries where members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] "roam freely on the streets is detrimental to alliance's values," TASS reported.

Erdogan emphasised that Turkey will not support Finland and Sweden's membership in the military alliance until both the Nordic countries "keep their word". Notably, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan along with Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson had reached a trilateral memorandum to address Turkey's legitimate security concerns, that paved the way for nordic countries' NATO membership during the summit in Madrid in June. 

Sweden, Finland & Turkey sign trilateral memorandum 

The memorandum was signed by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu along with Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto and Sweden Foreign Minister Ann Linde of Sweden in the presence of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Stoltenberg had welcomed the signing of the trilateral memorandum and called the Finnish and Swedish membership of NATO "good" for both the nordic countries, NATO and European security. Earlier, Turkey had objected to Sweden and Finland's NATO bid and accused Helsinki and Stockholm of supporting Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, which Ankara views as a "terrorist organisation".

Turkey, Sweden & Finland to meet in August: Turkish FM

Earlier on 21 July, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the officials from Turkey, Finland, and Sweden will hold a meeting in August to analyse the progress made in fulfilling Turkey's counterterrorism demands, TRT World reported citing TRT Haber.  Cavusoglu said that the meeting will be the first meeting of the monitoring committee which has been created under a deal signed in July. He further stated that Turkey will not support Sweden and Finland's NATO bid if they do not fulfil their promises. According to the trilateral agreement, Sweden and Finland will not support the PKK and its affiliates and consider them terrorist organisations. The two Nordic countries will stop the activities of PKK and all the terrorist organisations and their affiliates. Furthermore, Sweden and Finland are expected to work on the extradition of terror suspects to Turkey. 

Image: AP