Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın said that Türkiye supports NATO enlargement in principle but told Sweden and Finland from day one that Ankara would not leave provocations unanswered.
Speaking in a live interview on Tuesday, Kalın said some provocative incidents that took place in Sweden did not take place in Finland.
"We've told them that there are necessary steps to be taken. Sweden is rewriting its constitution and told us they need time until June," the top presidential aide said, adding that Türkiye is not blocking their membership.
Kalın also said Türkiye respects Finland and Sweden's decision to proceed together, but if Finland wants to hold a separate process for NATO membership, then it is their decision.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said that Ankara might approve Finland’s NATO membership while withholding approval for the membership of Sweden over ongoing tensions.
Sweden has approved a constitutional amendment that enables it to enact tougher anti-terror laws demanded by Ankara. However, Türkiye suspended NATO talks with Sweden and Finland last week after a protest in Stockholm in which a far-right politician burned a copy of the Quran.
Ankara has also been outraged by a Swedish prosecutor's decision not to press charges against PKK terrorist sympathizers that hung Erdoğan's effigy by its ankles outside Stockholm City Court.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country wanted to restore NATO dialogue with Türkiye, but Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said last Thursday it was meaningless to restart discussions.
Çavuşoğlu also said there was "no offer to evaluate Sweden's and Finland's NATO membership separately."
Regarding the F-16 program, Kalın said Ankara is aware of the U.S. Congress' mention of preconditions regarding the F-16 program.
"We will continue to go our way if the U.S. sets preconditions. Türkiye knows the Biden administration's intentions but if Congress blocks it then we will reevaluate the situation regarding F-16s," he added.
On Sunday, Erdoğan said "there would be a price" to pay if the United States fails to supply Türkiye with F-16 fighter jets it has been seeking in return for a payment it made for F-35 warplanes.
NATO member Türkiye has been seeking to modernize its existing warplanes to update its air force and sought to buy 40 Lockheed Martin F-16 jets and nearly 80 modernization kits from the U.S., a deal reportedly valued at $20 billion.
Türkiye made this request instead of a refund for the payment it had made for the next-generation F-35 fighter jets. The payment was issued before it was removed from the multinational program developing the aircraft over Ankara's decision to acquire Russian-made S-400 air missile defense systems.
Ankara had previously ordered over 100 U.S. F-35 jets, but Washington removed Türkiye from the program in 2019 after it bought the S-400s. Türkiye has called the move unjust and demanded reimbursement for its $1.4 billion payment.
The Biden administration has reportedly conveyed to Congress its intention to sell the fighter jets to Türkiye. The administration has said it supports the sale and has been in touch for months with Congress informally to win its approval. However, it has failed to secure a green light so far.
