ISTANBUL, Turkey —
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday warned Turkey would not ratify the NATO membership bids of
Sweden and Finland until the two Nordic countries “kept” promises they had made
to Ankara.
اضافة اعلان
“Until the promises made to our country are kept, we
will maintain our principled position,” Erdogan said in a speech to parliament
in Ankara.
“We are closely following whether the promises made
by Sweden and Finland are kept or not, and of course, the final decision will
be up to our great parliament,” he added.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February saw the two
Nordic countries abandon decades of military non-alignment and in May apply to
join
NATO.
Although the Nordic countries hoped for a speedy
entry, Turkey delayed the process by objecting to their membership.
Erdogan has accused both countries of being havens
for Kurdish militants, specifically highlighting the outlawed Kurdistan
Workers’ Party, and for promoting “terrorism”.
A deal was then struck between the three countries
in June, which included provisions on extraditions and sharing of information,
clearing the way for NATO to formally invite the two nations to join the
alliance.
So far, 28 out of 30 NATO members have ratified
Finland and Sweden’s membership.
Only Hungary and Turkey have yet to send the membership
bids to their parliaments for ratification.
In an apparently significant concession to Ankara,
Sweden on Friday announced they had reauthorized exports of war materials to
Turkey.
Ankara had requested the lifting of the restrictions, which
were introduced in 2019 following a Turkish offensive in northeastern Syria.
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