17 Oct 2026
Turkey will not approve the accession of countries that support terrorists into NATO, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, commenting on negotiations with Finland and Sweden.
"Unfortunately, our delegation's meetings with [representatives of] Finland and Sweden did not go as expected. They have expectations, but they have not taken the necessary steps regarding Turkey. And they still allow terrorists to walk down the streets of Stockholm and also protect them with the help of their police", Erdoğan said.
He added that his country would not approve Sweden and Finland joining the Alliance. "As long as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the head of the Republic of Turkey, we cannot say yes to the accession of countries that support terrorism into NATO", he stressed.
The Turkish President also pointed out that Russia does not look positively at the accession of Sweden and Finland into NATO. "First of all, Russia is particularly concerned about the Finnish issue. Why? It is a border country, so it does not support Finland's accession into NATO. In fact, Russia did not support any of the Scandinavian countries' entry into NATO", the head of the republic added.
The Turkish leader said that he plans to hold telephone conversations with Russian and Ukrainian presidents Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky on May 30. Ankara "will continue to encourage the parties to operate channels of dialogue and diplomacy", Erdoğan said.
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