The upcoming NATO summit in Madrid later this month is not a deadline for Turkey to make a decision on Sweden and Finland’s membership applications, Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said Saturday.
Visiting Madrid ahead of the bloc’s summit, Kalın told Anadolu Agency (AA) that progress on the membership bids hinged on how Sweden and Finland respond to Turkish demands.
"We don't see ourselves in a time constraint like the NATO summit," Kalın said, adding that while the summit was important in addressing common issues like Russia's invasion of Ukraine and cooperation within the alliance, potential allies have to take steps to alleviate the concerns of current members.
"We don't feel like we are under any time pressure like 'let us get this done by the NATO summit.' What is important here is that Sweden and Finland openly, clearly and concretely put forth what kind of steps they will take regarding counterterrorism," he added.
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 convene on June 29-30 in Madrid. He said the bloc is in touch with Turkey to find a "united way" forward to address Ankara's concerns over Sweden and Finland's bid to join the pact.
Earlier, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said NATO was not an organization that could provide protection from terrorism, citing demonstrations and events organized by the PKK terrorist group in allied countries like France, Germany, the Netherlands and Greece, whose envoy to Ankara was summoned over the issue on Friday.
He said Ankara would not "fall for the same mistake" while PKK members "roam free" in Finland and Sweden.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and European Union.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO on May 18, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24. But Turkey, a longstanding member of the alliance, has voiced objections to their membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
Ankara has said Sweden and Finland must halt their support for the PKK and other groups, bar them from organizing any events on their territory, extradite those sought by Turkey on terrorism charges, support Ankara’s military and counterterrorism operations, and lift all arms exports restrictions. Finland and Sweden have sought to negotiate a solution and other NATO capitals have said they remain confident that the objections raised by Turkey – which has NATO’s second-biggest military – can be overcome.
