Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that Turkey is not favorable to an accession of Finland and Sweden to NATOaccusing Scandinavian countries of harboring Kurdish militants.
“We do not have a positive opinion. The Scandinavian countries are like a guest house for terrorist organizations,” Erdogan told reporters, citing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), considered a “terrorist” group by Turkey, the Union European and United States.
The head of state assured that he does not want “the same mistake that was made with the accession of Greece to be repeated.”
“We are currently following the evolution of Sweden and Finland, but we do not have a positive opinion, because they made a mistake in the OTAN regarding Greece before, against Turkey,” declared the head of state after Friday prayer in Istanbul.
Turkey’s reaction is the first dissonant voice within the OTAN on the possibility of Finland and Sweden joining the North Atlantic Alliance.
Since the beginning of the crisis and then after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Turkey has done its best to maintain good relations with the two countries, on which its economy closely depends. AFP
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