- Turkey's leader has assured friends that he will oppose Finland and Sweden's NATO membership ambitions.
- All NATO members, including Turkey, must approve before the two nations may join.
- Turkey has made it clear that it demands concessions in exchange for membership.
Turkey's president said he would oppose Sweden and Finland from joining NATO, complicating a major shift in European geopolitics triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shared a video of an interview he did with students the day before on Twitter on Thursday.
According to a Reuters translation, he said: "We will stick to our guns and stick to our policy. We have informed allies that we will oppose Finland and Sweden joining NATO."
Erdogan had previously stated that he would oppose the two countries' NATO membership bids. Turkey, as a NATO member, has the ability to veto any new countries seeking membership. Enlargement of NATO requires the agreement of all current members.
Erdogan, on the other hand, has hinted that he wants concessions in exchange for dropping his opposition to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance.
Turkey has recently chastised Western countries for supporting Kurdish militants in the fight against ISIS, which Ankara considers terrorists. The Turkish government has demanded that Finland and Sweden extradite alleged members of such groups, as well as lifting arms embargoes in the Nordic countries.
Erdogan's spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, told Reuters on Saturday that Turkey was "not closing the door" on Finland and Sweden joining NATO. "However, we are raising this issue as a matter of Turkish national security," Kalin said.
This week, Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO. It could take weeks or even months for them to join.
Despite Turkey's objections, the White House and NATO have expressed confidence that Finland and Sweden will be admitted to NATO in a timely manner. While hosting Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson at the White House on Thursday, President Joe Biden strongly endorsed their NATO bids.
While standing alongside the Scandinavian leaders in the Rose Garden, Biden said, "Today, I am proud to welcome and offer the strong support of the United States for the applications of two great democracies and two close, highly capable partners to join the strongest, most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world."
Following that, Niinistö addressed Turkey's concerns directly.
Niinistö stated, "Finland has always had proud and good bilateral relations with Turkey." "We will commit to Turkey's security as NATO allies, just as Turkey will commit to our security."
"We are open to discussing all of Turkey's concerns about our membership in an open and constructive manner," the Finnish leader added.