Turkiye will say ‘no’ to Finland, Sweden joining NATO: Erdogan

ISTANBUL – Turkiye will say “no” to entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday, as senior representatives of the two countries are set to visit Turkiye for talks in the coming days.

The Turkish leader reiterated Ankara’s security concerns amid Helsinki and Stockholm’s NATO bids, saying that the Nordic countries are hosting members of the militant groups Turkiye considers banned such as YPG/ PKK and the Fetullah Gulen Movement, which the Erdogan regime has termed ‘Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).’

“We told them, we said that NATO is a security organization, we cannot accept the existence of terrorist organizations in such an organization,” Erdogan said.

“Especially Sweden is a real guesthouse for terror,” he said, adding that Stockholm also imposed an arms embargo on Turkiye.

Turkiye, a longstanding NATO member, has voiced objections to Finland and Sweden’s membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting groups it considers banned for their militant separatism including the Kurdish liberation groups YPG/PKK.

Senior representatives of Finland and Sweden are set to visit Turkiye in the coming days to hold official talks in Ankara to discuss their accession processes.​​​​​​​

– Russia-Ukraine war

Asked about the Russia-Ukraine war, Erdogan said Turkiye will “continue to pursue a balanced policy”.

“And I have no thought of cutting ties with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy,” he said.

Erdogan also said the phone diplomacy with the Russian and Ukrainian leaders will continue.