Erdogan reiterates to oppose Finland´s NATO membership

Turkey will not allow Finland and Sweden to enter NATO, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday, underlining the talks with Sweden and Finland on their intention to join the alliance have not yielded results, reported Xinhua.

Last week's negotiations with Finnish and Swedish delegations in Turkey's capital Ankara were not at the "expected level," Erdogan told journalists on the plane during his flight from Azerbaijan to Turkey.

"They have expectations, but they did not take the necessary steps regarding Turkey," the state-run TRT broadcaster quoted Erdogan as saying.

On the contrary, they kept on the activities which Turkey has been criticizing, the Turkish president said.

"As long as Tayyip Erdogan is the head of the Republic of Turkey, we definitely cannot say 'yes' to countries, which 'support terrorism,' entering NATO," he said.

Earlier, Turkey said that it kept reservations over Finland´s NATO bid as the country expects Sweden and Finland to take concrete steps in this regard in exchange for Ankara's lift of objections to the two countries' NATO memberships, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

Earlier, Finland and Sweden decided to hold meetings with Turkey in Ankara to negotiate the issues regarding their NATO membership bids.

On 22 May, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto expressed his optimism about resolving the issues with Turkey regarding Finland´s NATO membership application.

On may 21, President Sauli Niinistö held a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and discussed Finland’s NATO membership application.

Earlier on May 16, Finland and Sweden formally submitted their applications for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Turkey has been opposition the membership from before and after submission of the applications by Finland and Sweden.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on 13 May said that it was not possible for Turkey to support the possible NATO membership applications by Finland and Sweden.

Turkey has blocked discussions on Finland and Sweden's NATO accession hours after the countries officially launched their bids to join the alliance.

On 19 May, Erdogan said that Turkey would say "no" to Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bid, as the country would not make the same "mistake" again.

On the same day, US President Joseph R. Biden on Thursday underscored his commitment to support Finland and Sweden as they seek formal NATO accession while President Sauli Niinistö expressed willingness to discuss all the concerns Turkey may have regarding the membership of Finland and Sweden.