Today, Wednesday, Turkey renewed its objection to Sweden and Finland joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and demanded that the two countries respond in writing to its demands and provide concrete steps related to its security concerns.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said there would be no progress in the process of Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO without seeing concrete steps by the two countries towards Ankara's security concerns.

This came in a phone call today between Erdogan and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, according to a statement from the Turkish Presidency Communication Department.

The statement stated that President Erdogan discussed with the Secretary General of NATO the request for Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Erdogan also called for the need for written commitments that guarantee a change in the two countries' approaches to combating terrorism and cooperation in the field of defense industries.

Earlier in the day, Stoltenberg said Sweden and Finland were ready to work with Turkey on its legitimate security concerns about terrorism.


important ally

In a press statement, he stressed that Turkey is an important ally and that it has concerns about some specific issues, especially those related to the fight against terrorism.

For his part, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced today that Turkey is waiting for a "written response" from Sweden and Finland before raising its objections to their joining NATO.

"We have conveyed our written demands to these two countries, and we are now awaiting their written response," he told reporters.

Without giving details about these demands, the minister clarified that they are not only related to "changing the laws" of the two European countries, in reference to Sweden, which announced its intention to tighten its law on combating terrorism.

 "This response may take a legal form," the Turkish minister added.

Ankara accuses the two countries of harboring PKK activists, which Ankara and its Western allies classify as a "terrorist" organization.