Europe 1 with AFP 21:54 16 May 2022“How should we trust them? Sweden is the breeding ground for terrorist organizations (…) We will not give in to NATO membership for those who impose sanctions on Turkey,” insisted Recep Tayyip Erdogan, again accusing the two Nordic countries of being lenient the Kurdish rebels of the PKK, which is considered a terrorist organization.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday night that Turkey would “not give in” to Sweden and Finland joining NATO after the two countries formalized their candidacy. “How are we supposed to trust them? Sweden is breeding ground for terrorist organizations (…) We will not allow those who impose sanctions on Turkey to break their NATO membership,” hammered the head of state and again accused two Nordic countries of being lenient towards the Kurdish rebels of the PKK (Workers’ Party Kurdistan), which is considered a terrorist organization.
“Don’t let them get tired,” to convince us, says Ankara
Turkey, in particular, has accused Sweden and Finland of not granting extradition requests for people it accuses of belonging to “terrorist organizations”, Turkey’s Anadolu State Agency reported on Monday. None of the 33 extradition requests filed by Ankara have received a positive response from Stockholm or Helsinki in the past five years, according to the Justice Ministry quoted by Anadolu Agency.
Referring to the upcoming visit of a Swedish diplomatic delegation to Turkey to “see how the problem can be solved”, President Erdogan warned, according to the Swedish defense minister: “You will come to convince us? !”
Erdogan wants to block membership
Since Friday, the Turkish president has been threatening to block the two Nordic countries from joining NATO, accusing them of serving as a “hostel for PKK terrorists”. However, any expansion requires the unanimous approval of the members of the alliance. Turkey also accuses Sweden of having suspended all arms deliveries to them since 2019 in retaliation for the Turkish operation in northern Syria.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu appeared conciliatory towards Finland on Sunday, but criticized Sweden for “provocative” remarks during talks in Berlin with his colleagues from the Atlantic Alliance. He travels to the United States on Tuesday to speak with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Wednesday. After Finland on Sunday, Sweden formalized its candidacy on Monday.