Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Reuters
Reuters
World

Turkey has told allies it's a 'no' to Sweden and Finland's NATO bid - Erdogan

FILE PHOTO: Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan holds a news conference during the NATO summit at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 14, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman

Turkey has told allies that it will reject Sweden and Finland's membership to NATO, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said in a video posted on his Twitter account on Thursday.

Finland and Sweden formally applied on Wednesday to join U.S.-led NATO, a decision spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Turkey's objections have come as a surprise to the other members of the alliance.

"We will continue our policy in a determined way. We have told allies that we will say no to Finland and Sweden's NATO membership," Erdogan said in an interview with students? late on Wednesday.

The Turkish president said Sweden and Finland harbour and finance "terrorists" and supply them with weapons, repeating Ankara's accusation that the countries supports groups that it deems terrorists, namely the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and Syrian Kurdish YPG, which it also views as a terrorist group closely tied to the PKK.

"NATO is a security alliance and we cannot accept terrorists to be in it," Erdogan also said.

(Reporting by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.