The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogandeclared this Friday against the accession of Sweden y Finland to OTAN considering that “Scandinavia is a guest house for the terrorism” and recalled the “mistake” made by the fact that his country allowed Greece to join the Atlantic Alliance, given the historical tensions that characterize the relationship between the two countries. As a member of NATO, Turkey has right to veto in relation to new accessions.
“We do not have a positive opinion“, Erdogan declared this Friday in Istanbul before criticizing Scandinavia as a safe haven for terrorists, in response to the question about his opinion of the plans for the incorporation of both countries amid the tension in Europe due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey and Finland have maintained cordial relations but Ankara has repeatedly accused Sweden of supporting the activity of the Kurdish-Syrian militias of the Popular Protection Units (YPG), related to the forces of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), declared by Turkey as a terrorist organization. .
Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952 and gave the green light that same year to the incorporation of Greece under the premise that both countries would end up resolving their historical disputes with joint membership in the organization, a “mistake” in Erdogan’s opinion, ” that cannot be repeated twice,” he declared in comments collected by ‘Daily Sabah’.
NATO makes all of its decisions by consensus, meaning each of the 30 member countries has a potential veto over who can join. However, Erdogan has not come out openly during his remarks about the possibility of impeding the accession efforts of both Nordic nations.
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