Turkey expects NATO to take concrete steps to address Ankara's concerns over Sweden and Finland's possible accession to the alliance instead of useless statements, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
"We have not received adequate support from our NATO partners on counterterrorism issues. We expect NATO to take concrete steps to address concerns [about Sweden and Finland joining the alliance] rather than making useless statements. We cannot turn a blind eye to the sanctions Sweden has imposed on us; there is no explanation for them. Because our role in NATO is clear, we are still discussing the lifting of sanctions with our allies," the Turkish president emphasized.
Erdogan also again accused Europe of a policy of double standards against Turkey. "Today, our drones, about the achievements of which songs are composed in Ukraine, they called machines to kill innocent people in the Karabakh war. Those who today praise Turkey's contribution to NATO security used to ruthlessly criticize our country for the steps we took in Libya and Syria. Turkey hasn't seen the support it expected from its allies in 40 years, neither in its defense needs, nor in its legitimate cross-border operations, nor in the fight against terrorism," he added.
Helsinki and Stockholm decided in 2019 to impose restrictions on defense exports to Turkey due to Turkish cross-border operations in Syria.
The Finnish and Swedish ambassadors to NATO, Klaus Korhonen and Axel Vernhoff, officially handed over their states' NATO membership applications to Alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on May 18.
Erdogan said on May 18 that Ankara would not support Sweden's and Finland's accession to the alliance until they define their attitude toward terrorist organizations, in particular the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara considers such. He made a similar statement on May 16, noting that he opposed Finland and Sweden joining NATO due to the refusal of those countries to extradite to Turkey persons involved in the PKK. At the same time, Erdoğan advised representatives of Scandinavian countries planning to visit Ankara to convince the Turkish authorities to support them in joining NATO not to bother with such trips.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS