Today, Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged Turkey, a member of the alliance - which he will visit tomorrow, Thursday - to accept the requests of Finland and Sweden to join the defense bloc at the same time, and he also renewed his solidarity with Turkey following the earthquake that struck parts of it. last week.
"I called on them over the course of months to agree to both at the same time," he told reporters, adding that ultimately it was up to Turkey to decide whether or not to agree to the two countries joining at the same time. "This is a Turkish decision," he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan opposes Sweden's request in particular, due to its harboring - as he said - elements of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in his country, which Ankara classifies as a terrorist group.
Stoltenberg visits Turkey Thursday
In the same context, Stoltenberg announced that he will visit Turkey tomorrow, Thursday, to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and to affirm the alliance's solidarity with Ankara as a result of the earthquake.
This came in a press conference, today, Wednesday, at the conclusion of the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, where he affirmed NATO's solidarity with Turkey.
Stoltenberg offered his condolences to Turkey for the quake victims, stating that NATO members and allies intensified their support for Turkey following the quake.
He pointed out that NATO will send - tomorrow, Thursday - prefabricated houses for those affected by the earthquake, and that it is expected to reach Turkey within several days.
He made it clear that he would visit Turkey with the aim of meeting Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, affirming his solidarity with Ankara, and offering his condolences.
He pointed out that he opened the meeting of NATO ministers - yesterday, Tuesday - with a minute of silence for the earthquake victims, and that he appealed to all allies today to provide more aid and strategic support to Turkey.
On the sixth of February, a double earthquake struck southern Turkey and northern Syria, the first measuring 7.7 degrees, and the second measuring 7.6 degrees on the Richter scale, followed by hundreds of violent aftershocks, which caused great loss of life and property in the two countries.