Sweden and Finland submitted their formal applications to enter NATO but their bids were blocked by Turkey whose officials have spoken strongly against both Nordic countries joining the security alliance.
Erdogan reiterated to members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Wednesday that will not say “yes” to such bids unless both countries take action against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its alleged branch in Syria, the People’s Protection Units (YPG).
“We are the foremost among the countries lending the biggest support to the Alliance’s activities in practice. Yet, this doesn’t mean that we will say ‘yes’ to every proposal brought before us,” Erdogan told his party’s lawmakers at the Turkish parliament.
“NATO's enlargement is meaningful to us only to the extent that our sensitivities are respected. Asking us for support for NATO membership while providing every kind of support to the PKK/YPG terrorist organization amounts to incoherence to say the least,” he added.
The PKK is an armed group fighting for the increased cultural and political rights of Kurds in Turkey. The YPG is the backbone of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Bids by Sweden and Finland follow the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February. Both Scandinavian countries are already close partners of NATO but by joining it they would gain the support of 30 member countries when attacked.
NATO makes its decisions by consensus, meaning that both countries require the blessing of all 30 countries.
Sweden has given the SDF-controlled northeast Syria (Rojava) administration about $50 million since 2016, according to Kurdish authorities. Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ann Linde has received in Stockholm several Rojava delegations in recent years.
In Ankara in October 2020, Linde told her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu that Turkey must withdraw from Rojava. Her comments angered the Turkish minister but were cheered by Kurdish officials in Rojava.
Three diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday that during NATO’s meeting earlier that day Cavusoglu raised his voice at Linde.
The Turkish presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun claimed in an article he wrote for the Swedish newspaper Expressen on Wednesday that Swedish-made weapons were used against them by the PKK.
“In the subsequent years, Swedish-made AT4 anti-tank weaponry was confiscated in operations against the organisation, while PKK members maintained their recruiting, terrorist financing, and propaganda activities in Sweden, causing our nation to question this potential NATO member's reliability as an ally,” he noted.
