Issues Stern Warning, President Erdogan: Turkey Will Cancel Agreement To Join NATO, If Sweden And Finland Don't Keep Promises

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. (Source: Presidency of The Republic of Turkiye)

JAKARTA - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated that his country gave conditional approval to the candidacy of Sweden and Finland as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and could stop the process if the two countries fail to comply with the necessary steps related to dealing with terrorists.

"We see that Sweden in particular did not fulfill its promises," the president said at a press conference at the Presidential Complex in the capital Ankara.

President Erdogan noted that Turkey has openly and frequently reiterated its concerns regarding NATO expansion, and Ankara has a firm stance on the matter.

"As Turkey, our position is clear. The rest is up to them," said President Erdogan.

As previously reported, Turkey, Sweden, and Finland signed a trilateral memorandum at the end of June on the process of NATO membership of the Nordic countries after an important meeting of the NATO summit in Madrid, where Ankara got the long-awaited concrete steps, especially in the field of terrorism.

Turkey agreed to lift its veto over Finland and Sweden's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), after the three countries agreed to protect each other's security, ending weeks of drama.

That means Helsinki and Stockholm could continue their applications to join the nuclear-armed alliance, cementing what would be the biggest change in European security in decades, as the two long-neutral Nordic nations seek NATO protection.

"Our foreign ministers signed a trilateral memorandum confirming that Turkey will support Finland and Sweden's application to become NATO members," Finnish President Niinisto said in a statement.

It is known that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held non-aligned status and sign up to join NATO. However, Turkey opposes the move on the grounds that both countries support terrorist organizations, as well as a ban on arms exports.