Turkey's Erdogan says it does not support Sweden's NATO bid

The Turkish President and Leader of the Justice and Development AK Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara on February 1, 2023. PHOTO AFP ANKARA-Trkiye looks positively on Finland's application for NATO membership, but does not support Sweden's bid, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.

Erdogan said of their NATO applications in a speech to his AK Party deputies in parliament that their position on Finland is positive, but it is not positive on Sweden.

Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the trans-Atlantic defense pact after the Ukraine crisis began, but faced unexpected objections from T rkiye and have tried to win its support.

Ankara wants Helsinki and Stockholm to take a tougher line against the Kurdistan Workers' Party PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by T rkiye and the European Union, and another group it blames for a 2016 coup attempt.

In June, the three nations reached an agreement on a way forward in Madrid but Ankara suspended talks last month after protests in Stockholm in which a far-right Danish politician burned a copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.

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Sweden shouldn't try at this point. Erdogan said that they will not say 'yes' to their NATO application as long as they allow the burning of the Koran.

He stated on the weekend that Ankara could agree to joining NATO with Finland ahead of Sweden. Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Monday that his country was sticking to its joint application plan.

Of NATO's 30 members, only T rkiye and Hungary are yet to ratify the Nordic countries' memberships.

Asked whether T rkiye plans to separate processes for Finland and Sweden, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was NATO and the two Nordic countries who would decide on any separate ratifications.

Cavusoglu said at a news conference with his Estonian counterpart in Tallinn that if NATO and the two countries decide for separate membership processes, T rkiye will reconsider Finland's membership more favorably and more favorably.

Finland has a position that it will move in step with its Nordic neighbor, according to a statement issued by Finland on Wednesday.

Finland continues to advance the membership process with Sweden, the joint presidential and government committee on Finnish security and foreign policy said in a statement.

It said that the fast possible realization of both countries' memberships is in the best interest of Finland, Sweden and the whole NATO.