ANKARA (Dispatches) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday urged Swedish and Finnish leaders in separate phone calls to abandon financial and political support for “terrorist” groups threatening his country’s national security.
Erdogan told Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson that “Sweden’s political, financial and weapon support to terrorist organizations must end,” the presidency said.
Turkey expects Sweden to “take concrete and serious steps” that show it shares Ankara’s concerns over the PKK and its Iraqi and Syrian offshoots, Erdogan told the Swedish premier, according to the presidency.
Erdogan also told Andersson to “lift restrictions imposed on Turkey in the defense industry”.
In a phone call with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, Erdogan said turning a blind eye to “terror” organizations posing a threat to a NATO ally was “incompatible with the spirit of friendship and alliance”.
Erdogan also said it was Turkey’s most natural right to expect respect and support for its “legitimate and determined struggle against a clear threat to its national security and people,” the presidency said.
Earlier this week, sources revealed that Turkey has blocked the start of NATO talks regarding bids by Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.
At a NATO ambassadorial-level meeting on 18 May in Brussels, Turkey voted against commencing the discussion, citing its objection to the bids. A source with knowledge of the matter said Turkey publicly made clear its opposition to Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO and acted as it promised it would.
Turkey accuses both countries of adopting a lax attitude towards the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought an armed struggle with the Turkish state since 1984.
Finland and Sweden formally applied to join the NATO alliance on Wednesday. All 30 NATO members need to approve their admission. Turkey’s stance doesn’t mean that the applications are dead, as a proposal to open negotiations could be raised at a later date.
Turkish officials demand that Sweden and Finland extradite alleged PKK members to Turkey, stop PKK activities in their respective countries and end military export bans that were introduced in 2019.