Ankara is ready to start discussing the issue of Finland and Sweden’s membership in NATO in exchange for their written agreement to stop their support of “terrorism”.

This was stated by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, quoted by the Hurriyet newspaper.

Cavusoglu said that on May 25 a meeting of representatives of Turkey, Finland and Sweden will take place. He added that it could be held with the participation of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Such a proposal, according to him, came, they say, from the Secretary General.

Turkey also requires Finland and Sweden to lift sanctions on the supply of defense industry products.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already stated that Ankara cannot support the membership of Finland and Sweden in the Alliance because of their position towards members and supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), whom the Turkish authorities call “terrorists”.

It should be noted that the approval by Turkey of the application of Finland and Sweden to join NATO is a prerequisite, because the Alliance makes decisions by consensus. Therefore, each of the 30 member countries has the right to veto an application for membership.

Recall that Turkey opposes the membership of both Scandinavian countries in the Alliance.

However, US President Joe Biden said that, despite the position of Turkey, he supports the entry of Finland and Sweden into the North Atlantic Alliance.

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