Erdogan commenting on Sweden and Finland's request to join NATO: "A believer is not bitten twice from the same hole!"

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Sweden and Finland's request for Ankara's approval to join NATO, "at a time when they refuse to hand over terrorists to Turkey," and said: "Excuse me, a believer is not stung twice from the same hole."

In his speech during the meeting of the parliamentary bloc of his "Justice and Development" party in Parliament, Erdogan said that his country strongly supports the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), but he added that this does not mean agreeing to all his proposals.

Commenting on Turkey's reservations about Finland and Sweden joining NATO, Erdogan said that "NATO expansion is beneficial to Turkey as much as the respect that is shown towards its concerns."

Erdogan stated that his country "asked Sweden to extradite 30 terrorists, but it refused to hand them over to Ankara," adding: "We made a mistake once when we agreed to return Greece and France to the alliance. Sorry, a believer is not bitten twice."

Anadolu Agency reported.

The Turkish president indicated that supporting organizations (which Ankara classifies as terrorist), such as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the "People's Protection Units" (YPG), "and then our demand to support Sweden and Finland's membership in NATO is a "contradiction" to say the least. ".

(Washington is one of the most prominent supporters of the People's Protection Units, which is the backbone of the "Syrian Democratic Forces" that control large parts of northern Syria).

Erdogan added, according to "Russia Today", "We are actually at the forefront of countries that strongly support NATO's activities, but this does not mean that we will say yes to each proposal without question and inquiry."

Erdogan talked about his country's contributions to the alliance and the fight against terrorism, noting that "Ankara looks forward to obtaining NATO's support in protecting its borders, enhancing its security and stability, and understanding its concerns."

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