Turkish President Erdogan unhappy with talks with Sweden and Finland | NOW

The talks Turkey had last week with Sweden and Finland about their desire to join NATO were not at the “expected level”. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said so, according to the state TV channel TRT Haber said.

According to Erdogan, Turkey cannot accept the membership of “countries which support terrorism”.

Erdogan strongly opposes Finland and Sweden joining NATO. According to him, the two countries are home to terrorists, including Kurdish militants banned from Turkey. PKK†

“They are not honest and sincere”, said the Turkish president TRT Haber against a group of journalists. “As long as I am at the head of the Turkish Republic, we absolutely cannot say ‘yes’ to the accession of countries that support terrorism to NATO,” Erdogan said.

Report sources to news agency Reuters that little progress was made during the talks last Wednesday. It is still unclear whether negotiations will continue later. Both Sweden and Finland stressed in response to Erdogan’s statements that the country condemns all forms of terrorism.

Erdogan announced new talks with Russia and Ukraine. These are scheduled for Monday. “We will once again encourage both sides to engage in dialogue and diplomacy,” he said.