“Do not disturb them.” Erdogan refuses to admit Finland and Sweden into NATO

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey would not approve of Sweden and Finland joining NATO. The Turkish politician recalled that both previously refused to accept Ankara’s request for the extradition of terrorism suspects.

There are reports that they will not extradite terrorists to us. “We will not say yes to the entry of these two countries into NATO,” he said.

According to the Turkish president, there are supporters of terrorism even in the parliaments of these countries. If membership applications are approved, NATO will turn into a “terrorist concentration”.

Erdogan also said that delegations from Finland and Sweden will come to Turkey in the near future to discuss Ankara’s fears over the alliance’s expansion in the north.

They will come to Turkey on Monday. Will they come to convince us otherwise? Let them not bother them, let them not upset themselves,” he said.

The day before Erdogan declarationIt cannot be called “positive news” that “Scandinavian countries are guesthouses of terrorist organizations” and therefore they join an alliance. The Turkish politician meant terrorist organizations and members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Erdogan’s spokesman İbrahim Kalın later clarified that Ankara had not closed the door to NATO for Sweden and Finland, but wanted to avoid terrorist threats.

33 terrorists

Finland and Sweden on 16 May refused to comply with the Turkish authorities’ extradition request of 33 members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Hizmet Movement (FETÖ), which are recognized as terrorists in Turkey. 12 citizens whose extradition is demanded by Ankara are in Finland, 21 – in Sweden.

According to TRT, Finland and Sweden responded negatively to some of the requests, while others were completely ignored.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu accused Both of these countries openly support the PKK. According to him, the reason for the limited supply of defense products to Ankara, some of which was imported from states planning to join NATO, was precisely the Turkish struggle against the PKK.

“We have taken a very clear position. lies in the fact that it is. [эти страны] It should completely stop cooperation with terrorist organizations and remove the restrictions on the supply of defense industry products to Turkey. “Turkey does not object to the expansion of NATO, we oppose countries that support terrorists,” he said.

According to RIA Novosti and TASS sources, right after Erdogan’s statement today, Çavuşoğlu met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Details of the meeting were not disclosed.

Turkey’s isolation

Head of the leading faction of the European Parliament – European People’s Party – Manfred Weber threateningIf Turkey prevents Finland and Sweden from joining the alliance, isolation in NATO can wait.

“Anyone questioning NATO compliance will be isolated in society,” he said.

He noted that if both countries want to become members of the organization, there is no point in slowing down or blocking their admission.

Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist promiseHe said officials would be sent to Turkey to resolve “existing misunderstandings”.

“We will send a group of officials to meet and dialogue with Turkey, we will see how this problem will be resolved and what really happens,” he said at SVT.

According to Hultqvist, Sweden and Finland received signals that they should be accepted into the alliance.

Sweden and Finland must submit a single application to join the ranks of NATO countries. The approval process could take up to a year, but Secretary-General Stoltenberg promised it would be fast enough.