Finnish, Swedish NATO bids depend on response to Turkey: Kalin

By Trend

Progress on Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bids ahead of a NATO summit in Madrid this month depends on their response to Turkey's demands, Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said, Trend reports citing Daily Sabah.

Stockholm and Helsinki applied to join the Western defense alliance last month, but they have faced opposition from Turkey, which has accused them of supporting and harboring PKK terrorists and other groups it deems terrorists.

While Sweden and Finland have said talks with Turkey would continue to resolve the dispute, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Ankara had not received any proposals on its demands, which include stopping support for groups Turkey considers terrorists, extraditing suspects sought by Turkey and lifting arms embargoes on Ankara.

Kalin, Erdogan's spokesperson and chief foreign policy adviser, told Spain's El Pais daily that how Finland and Sweden respond to Turkey's demands would determine whether progress can be made ahead of a NATO summit in Madrid on June 29-30.

"It depends on what Sweden and Finland do," he said. "When we see progress on our requests, then the process will advance. NATO is not a tourism, nor economic alliance; it is a security alliance, which means that it must provide security to all its members equally and fairly."