NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Türkiye's announcement to start the process to approve Finland's accession to the military bloc.
"This will strengthen Finland’s security, it will strengthen Sweden’s security, and it will strengthen NATO’s security," Stoltenberg said in a video message on Friday.
He added that he hopes the Turkish Parliament will vote on the matter "as soon as possible."
"The most important thing is that both Finland and Sweden become full members of NATO quickly, not whether they join at exactly the same time," Stoltenberg said on Ankara's ongoing block of Sweden's membership due to the Nordic country continuing to harbor terrorists that pose a security threat to its future ally Türkiye.
Stoltenberg reiterated that the accession process has already improved the security situation of both Nordic countries.
"It is inconceivable that NATO would not respond should either Finland or Sweden come under attack. Their security matters to NATO," he noted.
Later on Friday, Stoltenberg and Erdoğan discussed the recent developments in a phone conversation.
"While starting ratification process for Finland, Türkiye expects concrete steps from Sweden in fight against terrorism to reevaluate its membership bid," Erdoğan told the NATO chief.
Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO but faced unexpected objections from Türkiye due to concerns regarding members and sympathizers of terrorist groups like the PKK, its Syrian offshoot the YPG and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
A trilateral memorandum the sides inked in Madrid last June won Ankara concrete promises it had demanded, especially in counterterrorism, as the Nordic nations, especially Sweden, tolerate and harbor terrorists.
The memorandum envisages Finland and Sweden, as future NATO allies, to show full solidarity and cooperation with Türkiye in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, against all threats to its national security.
Türkiye said Finland has taken necessary steps in response to its security concerns but will continue to hold discussions with Sweden on terrorism-related issues.
