Admitting Turkey Has Experienced More Terrorist Attacks Than Iraq And Syria, NATO Secretary General: We Must Take It Seriously

NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg. (Wikimedia Commons / US Department of State)

JAKARTA - Turkey has 'legitimate concerns' over terrorism and other issues that need to be taken seriously, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Ankara has said it will not support Finland and Sweden joining NATO unless it changes its policy to support Kurdish militants, who are labeled as terrorists.

Stoltenberg said alongside Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, "no other NATO ally has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey" and pointed to his location, alongside neighbors including Iraq and Syria.

"This is a legitimate concern. It's about terrorism, it's about arms exports," he said, according to The National News June 13.

"We have to address the security concerns of all allies, including Turkey's concerns about the terrorist group PKK (Kurdish Workers Party)."

It is known that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met the President at the Finnish presidential summer residence, Kultaranta in western Finland.

Previously, Russia's war in Ukraine prompted Finland and Sweden to sign up to join NATO in May after decades of military non-alignment.

However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Nordic countries of supporting Kurdish militants deemed by Turkey to be terrorists, opting for the move to veto their entry into the 30-member alliance.

“When a vital key ally like Turkey raises concerns about terrorism, then of course we have to sit down and take it seriously. And that's exactly what we did," said Stoltenberg.

The demands from Ankara to Helsinki and Stockholm also include lifting restrictions on arms exports to Turkey, as well as the extradition of members of certain Kurdish organizations that oppose the Erdogan government.

In recent weeks, NATO's secretary general has sought to resolve the dispute, but he did not disclose on Sunday whether any progress had been made.

Stoltenberg will attend the annual panel discussion in Kultaranta, Finland, on Sunday evening with Finnish and Nordic politicians, foreign and security policy experts, and military representatives.

It is planned that Stoltenberg will visit Sweden on Monday to speak with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.