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Weeks after signing a protocol with NATO membership candidates Sweden and Finland, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey could still block the two Nordic countries from joining the alliance if they do not take steps to meet Ankara’s security requirements.
Last month, Turkey withdrew its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining the alliance, but warned it would block the process if the two countries failed to extradite suspects with links to outlaw Kurdish groups or the exiled cleric’s FETO network. for orchestrating a failed coup in 2016.
Radio Free Europe writes that the admission of the Nordic countries to NATO must still be approved by the parliaments of the 30 NATO members, and Turkey’s parliament can still refuse to ratify the agreement.
“I would like to remind once again that if these countries do not take the necessary steps to meet our conditions, we will freeze the (membership) process,” Erdogan said after a government cabinet meeting. “Our position on this issue is very clear. The rest is up to them.”
Erdogan said that Sweden in particular was not “projecting a good image”, but did not elaborate.
There was no immediate reaction from Sweden and Finland to Erdogan’s comments.
The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, and the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, during the press conference on July 13, 2022.
Turkey accuses both countries of being too tolerant of groups it considers threats to national security. Turkey’s justice minister said earlier this month that the government had reiterated requests for the extradition of terrorism suspects made by his country.
Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a joint memorandum during a NATO summit last month.
The agreement allows the countries to join NATO, but requires them to take steps to address Turkey’s concerns over terrorism and lift an arms embargo on Ankara.
Following the tripartite agreement, NATO formally invited Sweden and Finland to join the 30-member military alliance.
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