Ibrahim Kalin, the spokesman for the Turkish president, on Wednesday said Finnish and Swedish membership in NATO is impossible until they meet Ankara’s expectations in the security, NTV television reported.
The report said Kalin had held talks with his counterparts in Sweden, Finland, Germany, the UK and the US.
"The president's spokesman shared Turkey's position with his colleagues," the report said. "He stressed that the process [of joining NATO] won’t move forward until Turkey's expectations are met."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday reiterated that Ankara won’t support the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO until they decide on their relations with terrorist organizations such as the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Turkey believes is a terrorist group. He made a similar statement on May 16 that he was opposed to the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO as these countries refused to extradite persons involved in the activities of the Kurdistan Workers' Party. He then also advised representatives of the Scandinavian countries not to bother themselves with traveling to Ankara. He reiterated that statement on Wednesday.
