Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said today that Ankara is not giving up blocking the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO.
Erdogan said that this week's meetings with the delegations of Finland and Sweden were not "at a satisfactory level" and that Turkey is still worried about its security.
"As long as Tayyip Erdogan is at the head of the Republic of Turkey, we cannot say 'yes' to joining NATO countries that support terrorism," Erdogan said.
He mentioned that a member of the Kurdish administration in the north of Syria, Salih Muslim, gave an interview to Swedish state television, on the very night of the meeting with the delegations of Sweden and Finland, and cited this as proof of Sweden's support for Kurdish armed groups in Syria.
Turkey considers them to be linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an armed rebellion against Turkish authorities since 1984.
Erdogan also accused Germany, France and the Netherlands of supporting terrorism. He added that tomorrow he will talk by phone with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine.
The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria are fighting the Islamic State, previously supported by the US. Turkey has repeatedly undertaken military operations in Syria to push the YPG from its border. Turkey equates the Syrian YPG with the PKK.
The entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO must be approved by all other member countries. Turkey, which is the second largest military power in the alliance, does not want to grant entry without meeting additional conditions, including the lifting of restrictions on arms sales to Turkey.
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