Erdogan: Turkey will not change its position on Sweden and Finland

Ankara’s position on the entry of Sweden and Finland will not change into NATO and for the membership of these countries in the alliance it is necessary to take steps to eliminate the concern of the Turkish side, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, TASS reports.

“We will expect specific steps from Helsinki and Stockholm. Until then, our attitude to the issue will remain unchanged,” the Turkish leader emphasized.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Finland and Sweden are ready to relieve Turkey’s concern to combat terrorism in order to become NATO members as soon as possible.

Turkey set ten conditions of Sweden and Finland, when fulfilling which they can get membership in NATO. The Turkish President stated that Sweden and Finland should stop “support of terrorism”, primarily the “Kurdistan Labor Party”, after which Turkey would not mind the entry of these countries into the NATO alliance.