Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that a four-party summit will be held next Tuesday in the Spanish capital of Madrid, which will be attended by Turkey, Sweden, Finland and NATO.

In a TV interview, he explained that “Turkey had two meetings with officials from Sweden and Finland regarding their accession to the North Atlantic Treaty – NATO”, noting that “Turkey’s Assistant Foreign Minister Sedat Unal will depart today, Monday, in the Belgian capital, Brussels for the tour. The third of these meetings.

Kalin stressed that “Turkey will not back down from its reservations about Sweden and Finland joining NATO,” noting that “the upcoming quadripartite summit in Madrid will be held at the level of leaders.” He indicated that “Turkey expects Sweden and Finland to take a clear and unambiguous position towards the PKK and its affiliates.”

Notably, on May 18, Sweden and Finland officially applied to join NATO, after Russia’s war against Ukraine hastened the decision to go down that path. On the other hand, Turkey has reservations about the two countries joining the alliance due to their support for the PKK organization, and emphasizes that its approval of their joining NATO depends on the extent to which they take into account its security interests.