Turkey informed Sweden and Finland - during talks in Ankara on Wednesday - that it will not agree to their accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) if its security concerns are not resolved "with concrete steps and within a certain timetable".
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, who held separate talks with members of the Swedish and Finnish delegations in Ankara, said, "Our expectations are that the two countries will take concrete steps regarding stopping support for terrorist organizations on their soil, and through the media, and we have provided the two delegations with documents and reports in this regard prepared by our relevant institutions." .
He added, "Also, during the past ten years, we have submitted requests to the Swedish and Finnish authorities to return wanted persons to Turkey, but we have not received any positive responses so far, and they have not given us any convincing legal or judicial reasons for not achieving our demands."
However, the Turkish official made it clear that Ankara had sensed a positive attitude regarding the lifting of Western sanctions on the supply of defense industry products to it.
Kalin indicated that the deputy ministers of justice, foreign affairs and defense and officials from the relevant security institutions from the Turkish side participated in the meeting.
"We made it clear that the countries that will join NATO should take immediate steps to dispel the security concerns of the current member states and take them into consideration," he said, noting that meetings with the Swedish and Finnish sides are expected to continue in the coming days, and that Turkey will determine its position based on the responses of the two countries after the return of the two countries. and their delegations.
Ankara's objections have dampened hopes of Sweden and Finland for a quick NATO accession, as the two countries look to bolster their security in the wake of Russia's war on Ukraine.
A country's entry into NATO requires the unanimous consent of all 30 member states of the alliance.
Turkey says Sweden and Finland harbor individuals linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party and followers of Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a coup attempt on July 15, 2016. It has submitted 28 requests to Sweden and 12 requests to Finland for extradition.
In this context, the Elysee Palace announced that French President Emmanuel Macron will hold phone talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday to discuss the NATO expansion file.