Erdogan tells Stoltenberg Turkey's opposition to Finland, Sweden's NATO bid 'legitimate'

As Turkey has been raising concerns over Sweden and Finland's NATO bid, the Turkish President again reiterated that Ankara's security apprehensions are "just and legitimate". In a phone call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on June 3, Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the two Nordic nations' NATO aspirations and Ankara's security concerns regarding their membership into the military alliance.

Erdogan warned Stoltenberg that Sweden and Finland must demonstrate that they do not support terrorists and are willing to demonstrate alliance cooperation if sanctions against Turkey are to be repealed. Stoltenberg, for his part, stressed that Turkey, which he described as an essential NATO ally, must meet its security obligations. Notably, on May 18, Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO, a decision prompted by Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine.

However, Turkey, a long-time member of the alliance, has expressed opposition to the countries' membership ambitions, accusing them of tolerating and even aiding terror groups such as the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO). All 30 NATO member nations must vote in favour of the accession. In late May, Turkey convened meetings in Ankara with the Swedish and Finnish delegations to discuss their NATO applications. The meetings, Erdogan stated, were not "at the desired level."

Blinken, Stoltenberg believe Sweden, Finland's accession to NATO will strengthen the bloc

On June 1, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Stoltenberg stated that adding Sweden and Finland into NATO would strengthen the alliance. During a joint press conference with the NATO Secretary General, Blinken stated that the US strongly supports Finland and Sweden's applications and that both countries are more than qualified to join the alliance as full members as soon as possible.

Erdogan sparked international uproar last month when he announced that he would prevent Stockholm and Helsinki from joining NATO owing to suspicions that the Nordic countries were harbouring "terrorists" with ties to Kurdish extremist groups. He reprimanded Sweden and Finland for "supporting terrorists" and maintained that the intergovernmental military alliance is a security bloc that does not back terrorist groups. He also accused Sweden and Finland of harbouring terrorist cells on their soil.

Image: AP