Istanbul: Turkey expects Sweden and Finland to take concrete steps and stop “supporting terrorist organisations” in exchange for Ankara’s lift of objections to the two countries’ NATO memberships, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said.
“Both countries need to take concrete steps. Our expectation is not something impossible. They have to stop supporting terrorism if they want to be a member of an alliance like NATO,” Cavusoglu said at a joint press conference with his Romanian and Polish counterparts in Istanbul on Friday.
Turkey argues that the two NATO applicants are harboring the members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party and Syria’s Kurdish People’s Protection Units, Xinhua news agency reported.
Cavusoglu said a written document, which concretely reveals Turkey’s expectations from Sweden and Finland, was shared with their delegations during their visit to Ankara this week and a solid response is anticipated.
“We understand the security concerns of Finland and Sweden, but as many of our allies within NATO openly say, everyone needs to understand Turkey’s legitimate security concerns as well,” he noted.
Earlier in the day, Cavusoglu, Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu, and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau held a tripartite meeting to enhance their cooperation and consultation mechanisms. They also discussed the latest developments in the crisis in Ukraine.
–IANS
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