French President Emmanuel Macron called on his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to "respect the sovereign option" of Finland and Sweden in their request to join NATO, after Ankara rejected the move;

Given the two-state support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

The Elysee Palace said that Macron spoke with Erdogan by phone for an hour, and hoped for a quick solution to Turkey's opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

Macron stressed "the importance of respecting the sovereign choice of these two countries, which resulted from a democratic process and came in response to a shift in their security environment."

The French presidency added that Macron "hoped that talks would continue to find a quick solution" to the Turkish opposition to the two requests to join.

Finland and Sweden decided to join NATO in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.

And Turkey, a member of NATO, has expressed its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining the alliance because of accusations made by the two Scandinavian countries of providing a safe haven to Kurdish separatist groups.

Finland has a land border with Russia with a length of 1,300 km.

Anadolu Agency reported that Erdogan responded to Macron's request by saying that the two countries' communication with individuals and organizations affiliated with the "PKK terrorist organization" would not be compatible with the spirit of the alliance under the NATO umbrella.


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The agency added that Erdogan expressed during the call Turkey's desire to reach a just peace between Russia and Ukraine at the earliest opportunity.

Within this context, the Turkish President stressed that his country continues to urge Moscow and Kiev to engage in dialogue and diplomacy.

Earlier, Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), expressed his confidence in the possibility of reaching a solution that would end Turkey's objection to Sweden and Finland joining the Western Defense Alliance.

In a speech to the World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland, he said that the alliance must "sit down and find some way forward," adding that he was "confident" that this would happen.

NATO countries must unanimously agree to include any new member.

A series of diplomatic talks are underway between Turkey and Sweden and Finland to reach a settlement.

In his speech, Stoltenberg emphasized Turkey's contributions to the fight against terrorism and its strategic importance to the alliance.