ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Monday reaffirmed his country’s decision to block Sweden’s NATO bid if the Nordic country fails to meet Ankara’s conditions.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey has raised objections, accusing Sweden of supporting groups it labels as terrorists, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). In June, Ankara, Stockholm, and Helsinki signed a memorandum in which Sweden and Finland said they would address Turkey’s concerns, including extraditing suspected members of the PKK and other groups.
Cavusoglu said during a joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto that the position of his country about both Nordic countries’ NATO bids is “clear and transparent,” reported state media.
"There are pledges (by Sweden and Finland) to NATO membership. It is not possible for us to say 'yes' to Sweden's NATO membership without seeing these steps," he said, referring to actions against the PKK activities and incidents of burning of the copies of the Holy Quran in Sweden.
Turkey, Sweden and Finland have held two rounds of talks regarding the NATO bids, and Cavusoglu said on Monday that the next round will be held on March 9.
"Everyone should see clearly that Sweden, particularly, is not fulfilling its obligations. That's the reason why we said 'yes' for the meeting to be held in Brussels," he added.
Turkey was severely hit by twin quakes on February 6 and several other strong tremors and thousands of aftershocks have occurred since then, killing over 44,000 people. The neighbouring Syria was also stricken by the natural disaster which caused the death of thousands of people in the country.
Sweden will host a donor conference in March to mobilize funds for the people of Turkey and Syria after the earthquakes.
