Turkey keeps Finland and Sweden from NATO: “We cannot say yes to countries that support terrorism”

ISTANBUL (AP). The Turkish President told reporters that he intends to prevent Finland and Sweden from joining NATO.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said talks with the Finnish and Swedish delegations this week were not “at the expected level” and noted that no steps were taken to alleviate Turkey’s security concerns.

“As long as Tayyip Erdogan is responsible for the Republic of Turkey, we cannot say yes to countries that support terrorism to those who join NATO,” he told reporters on his plane after visiting Azerbaijan on Saturday, the daily Hürriyet reported. .

On the eve of the delegation meeting, Erdogan referred to an interview with Swedish state television with Salih Muslim, a member of the Syrian Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria. He cited this as proof of Sweden’s support for Syrian Kurdish fighters, whom Turkey sees as an extension of a banned Kurdish group that has led the uprising against Turkey since 1984.

“They are dishonest and liars,” Erdogan said, and promised that countries would not allow “terrorists to embrace and feed terrorists in their arms.” He also accused Germany, France and the Netherlands of making the same “mistake” in supporting terrorism.

Greek government warns that Turkey is using immigrants as a foreign policy tool https://t.co/Jo2nXRY0dg

– Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 1, 2021

The Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, form the backbone of the US-led forces in the fight against ISIS. Turkey has been fighting the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK since 1984 in Turkey and Northern Iraq, where it intensified its operations. Ankara also carried out cross-border operations in Syria to drive the YPG away from its border, claiming to be the same as the PKK.

All NATO members should approve the historic bid by the two Scandinavian countries to join the alliance, fueled by concerns over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkey, which commands the second largest army in the alliance, said it would not allow entry unless measures were taken, including lifting restrictions on arms sales to Turkey.

Erdogan added that he will speak by phone with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine on Monday.

Erdogan warned Turkey about freedom of expression and described social media as a “threat to democracy” https://t.co/czCayEygL6

– Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) 12 December 2021