Turkey's foreign minister said Finland and Sweden must stop supporting terrorist groups before joining NATO

Turkey’s foreign minister said Finland and Sweden must stop supporting terrorist groups before joining NATO.

According to Turkey’s foreign minister, Sweden and Finland must cease supporting terrorist organizations in their countries, offer explicit security assurances, and abolish export sanctions on Turkey.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said he spoke with his Swedish and Finnish colleagues following a NATO foreign ministers conference in Berlin. They were all trying to resolve Turkey’s concerns.

He stressed that Turkey was not threatening anybody or seeking pressure but was mainly speaking out against Sweden’s backing of the PKK Kurdish militant group, which Turkey, the European Union, and the United States consider a terrorist organization.

In reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland stated on Sunday that it will seek NATO membership, and Sweden is poised to follow suit.

On the other hand, Turkey’s worries might be a stumbling block since any decision on NATO expansion needs majority consent from all 30 member nations.

“There must be security assurances in this situation. They must abandon their backing for terrorist groups, “Cavusoglu spoke to Turkish journalists in Berlin.

He also said prohibitions must be lifted on certain Swedish and Finnish defense industry items sent to Turkey.

“Our position is very open and transparent. This isn’t a threat, and it isn’t a negotiation in which we are attempting to leverage our positions, “he stated.

“This is also not populism. This is definitely about the backing for terrorism by two possible member nations, and we provided our firm views.”

On Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stunned NATO allies and Nordic nations by saying Turkey could not back the expansion plans since they were “home to numerous terrorist organizations.”

Still, his spokesman told Reuters that Turkey had not closed the door on Saturday.

Turkey, which joined NATO 70 years ago, accepts its open-door policy, according to Cavusoglu.

He said the conversations with his Swedish and Finnish colleagues went well.

They provided proposals to ease Ankara’s genuine concerns, which Turkey will consider. He said he had evidence of terrorists residing in their countries.

Cavusoglu singled out Sweden for ignoring Turkey’s stance, claiming that PKK terrorist meetings were held in Stockholm over the weekend.