(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said Turkey will not
approve Sweden and Finland's bid to join NATO, as he criticized
them for failing to take a clear stance against terrorism, Trend reports citing
Daily Sabah .
Erdoğan's remarks came after the Nordic countries officially
announced their intention to apply for the membership of the
military alliance.
Any membership bid must be unanimously approved by NATO's 30
members.
“Neither of the countries has a clear stance against terror
organizations,” Erdogan told a joint news conference with Algerian
counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune in the capital Ankara.
Erdogan called Sweden a“hatchery” for terrorist organizations
and added that they had terrorists in their parliament.
“First of all, we will not say 'yes' to those (countries) who
apply sanctions to Turkey to join the security organization NATO,”
he said.
Senior representatives of Sweden and Finland plan to travel to
Turkey for talks to address Ankara's objections, the Swedish
foreign office said Monday.
However, Erdogan said they“should not bother” coming to
convince Turkey to approve their NATO bids.
“They say they will come to Turkey on Monday. Will they come to
persuade us? Excuse us, but they shouldn't bother,” he noted.
Tags:
- Turkey
- Recep Tayyip Erdogan
- NATO
- Sweden
- Finland
MENAFN17052022000187011040ID1104226468
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.