Sweden has not yet fulfilled its obligations to expel terrorists based on the NATO membership memorandum that Stockholm and Helsinki signed in June 2022, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Thursday.
Turkey will not approve Sweden’s NATO bid until the country fulfills these obligations, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Twitter, citing Akar.
"Turkey has initially supported NATO’s open-door policy. The expulsion of terrorists to Turkey as part of the fight against terrorism is the natural outcome of the signing of the memorandum and everyone needs to understand it. We are waiting for it to happen. As long as terrorists continue to receive support, obligations remain unfulfilled and restrictions on the export of defense industry products remain in effect, Turkey can in no way say yes [to Sweden’s NATO bid]. Unfortunately, Sweden has so far failed to take sufficient steps in this direction," the ministry said in a statement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Ankara wouldn’t approve Sweden’s NATO bid. However, he made it clear that Turkey could support Finland’s application.
Bütün xəbərlər Facebook səhifəmizdə
.jpg)
USD
EUR
GBP
RUB