The NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June is not a deadline for deciding on Sweden's and Finland's candidacies to join the Alliance, which Turkey opposes, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman said today.
Sweden and Finland applied to join the alliance last month in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However their applications are meeting obstacles in Ankara which accuses these two Scandinavian countries of supporting Kurdish militants.
While Stockholm and Helsinki say talks will continue to resolve disputes with Turkey, President Erdogan said Wednesday that Ankara has received no response to its demands, including cutting off support for groups Turkey considers terrorist, lifting the arms embargo on Ankara and extraditing suspects that Turkey is seeking.
Speaking to Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency during a visit to Madrid, Erdogan's spokesman and chief adviser on foreign policy issues, Ibrahim Kalin, reiterated that progress on membership bids depends on how Sweden and Finland respond to Turkish demands.
"We do not feel that we are under a time constraint like the NATO summit," Kalin said, adding that while the summit is important to address common issues such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and cooperation within the alliance, NATO candidates must take steps to mitigate the concerns of current members.
"We don't feel that we are under any time pressure as let's get this over with by the NATO summit. What is important in this case is that Sweden and Finland state openly, clearly and concretely what kind of measures they will take in terms of fighting terrorism," he added.
Any application for NATO membership requires unanimous approval from its 30 member states. Turkey, which has been a NATO member for more than 70 years, has said it will not change its position unless the Nordic countries take "concrete steps" in addressing its concerns.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
said during a visit to Washington this week that he would convene senior officials from Finland, Sweden and Turkey in Brussels in the coming days to discuss the issue.
NATO leaders will meet on June 29-30 in Madrid.
Source: CNA
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