Erdogan dampens Finland, Sweden’s hope to join NATO
Turkey is pumping the brakes on Finland and Sweden’s NATO bids amid the growing confrontation between Russia and the West.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dampened Finland and Sweden’s bid to join NATO, saying that Ankara is not eager to see the two Nordic countries’ accession to the transatlantic alliance.
“We are currently following the developments about Sweden and Finland, but we are not holding a favorable approach,” Erdogan told reporters in Istanbul on Friday.
A potential veto by Ankara can keep the two countries from becoming NATO members as the alliance’s decision-making process is based on unanimity.
Erdogan said the countries “have been unfortunately almost like a guesthouse for terrorist organizations,” in an apparent reference to the militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party and followers of Fethullah Gulen, the US-based Sunni cleric who is accused of masterminding the failed attempt in July 2016 to bloodily overthrow Erdogan.
