Turkey seeks concrete action from Sweden, Finland for NATO bids

27/5/2022 19:08

        Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, Turkey expects Sweden and Finland to take concrete action and halt what it says is their support for terrorist groups in order for Ankara to lift its objections to them joining NATO.
        
        Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO last week, seeking to boost security following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. They hoped it would be a quick accession process and other NATO members touted the planned enlargement as historic.
        
        However, Turkey challenged the move saying they harbour people linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and followers of Fethullah Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.
        
        All 30 NATO states must give their approval before a new member can be admitted and thus benefit from the pact's collective-security guarantee.