Since the application for membership of the Sweden and some Finland at NATOthe Turkey made it clear that this might not happen without a major change in both countries. It should be recalled that Turkey considers that Sweden and Finland support terrorism by harboring certain activists opposed to the regime of Erdogan. During a recent outing, the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke once more on the subject. He once once more affirmed that his country is not opposed to the openness policy of the alliance.
“Turkey has always supported NATO’s open-door policy. There are currently two candidate countries. And the two most important threats to NATO are Russia and terrorism’…As such, we ask that all the concerns of the alliance (of NATO) be taken into consideration. The support that these countries give to terrorist organizations is clear“said the Minister Cavusoglu. By citing terrorism, he refers directly to the two countries which, for him, support terrorism by providing support to opponents wanted in Turkey.
Ankara has demanded that Finland and Sweden stop supporting groups that Turkey designates as terrorist organizations, extradite suspects wanted by the country and lift arms embargoes in Ankara as conditions for Turkey’s support for country candidacies. to NATO.