Turkey Unable To Agree To NATO Membership Of Finland, Sweden - Erdogan

Turkey can not say "yes" to the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th May, 2022) Turkey can not say "yes" to the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.

Earlier in May, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the majority of Turks oppose the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO over their open support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Kurdish YPG militia, which are deemed terrorists by Ankara.

"We can't say yes. Then NATO will not be a security organization, but will become a place where there will be many representatives of terrorists. We can't say yes, let them not be offended," Erdogan told a press conference, adding that cannot believe Stockholm's and Helsinki's assurances that they will stop supporting terrorists.

The president also said that delegations from Finland and Sweden will visit Turkey on Monday.