Nato's allies should respect Turkey's concerns - Erdogan

Nato's allies should respect Turkey's concerns - Erdogan

 

Erdogan - pictured here at a Nato summit last year - has threatened that Turkey may veto the two Nordic states' applications

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan, June 2021
Image caption: Erdogan - pictured here at a Nato summit last year - has threatened that Turkey may veto the two Nordic states' applications

We're turning now to Finland and Sweden's applications for Nato membership - and Turkey's objectives to them joining the alliance

President Erdogan said this morning that he expects Nato allies to understand Turkey's sensitivities about security.

In a speech to lawmakers from his ruling party, he also repeated his view that Swedish and Finnish delegations should not bother coming to Turkey to discuss the issues.

And he said Sweden should not expect Turkey to approve its Nato membership bid without returning "terrorists".

Turkey accuses the two Nordic nations of harbouring members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group it views as a terrorist organisation, and followers of Fethullah Gulen, who Ankara accuses of orchestrating A 2016 Attempt Coup 

According to the official Turkish news agency, both Finland and Sweden have rejected dozens of requests to extradite Kurdish militants who Turkey describes as terrorists.

Without the support of all Nato members, Sweden and Finland cannot join the military alliance, although US President Joe Biden said yesterday he was confident consensus could be reached.

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