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

ANKARA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th 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 to discuss the process of obtaining NATO membership, but added that their visit will not change Ankara's stance.

"They will come to Turkey on Monday. Will they come to convince us otherwise? Let them not be offended and bother themselves. Turkey will not say yes to the accession of countries that impose sanctions against our country. We will not make this mistake again," Erdogan told a briefing.

Finland and Sweden have been considering joining NATO since Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. Both countries announced their official decisions to abandon neutrality on Sunday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday that the alliance will warmly welcome Finland and Sweden and pledged to fast-track their membership applications. Yet the accession process may take up to several months, as all NATO members must ratify accession protocols at the national level, with Turkey's opposition likely to delay the process.