Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin indicated that “negotiations regarding Finland and Sweden’s request to join NATO and Ankara’s concerns in this regard are ongoing and that the upcoming NATO summit in Madrid on 29 June 30 is not the deadline for resolving this.”

In statements to reporters from the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, he stressed that “NATO is a security alliance and countries wishing to join must meet the terms of membership and address the security concerns of member states”, noting that “negotiations (with Swedish and Finnish delegations at NATO Headquarters) were frank and transparent, and that the concrete steps that the countries take will be a decisive factor in the next phase.

Regarding the activities of the PKK in Sweden, he said, “Turkey is waiting for Stockholm to take swift steps in this regard”, saying that “he has heard positive statements about this from Swedish officials.”

He explained that the Swedish side informed him that “there is a new anti-terrorism law that will come into force on July 1,” adding that “it is too early to judge this step until the details are clear.”

Kalin stated that “during the talks, Turkey’s aspirations were expressed regarding the termination of the presence and activities of terrorist organizations such as the PKK / YPG and Gülen in the territory of Sweden and Finland”, and added that “the Turkish delegation also expressed Ankara’s aspirations regarding the lifting of the embargo and restrictions on the supply of weapons to Turkey.