Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Sunday, Oct 05, 2025

Turkey confirms opposition to NATO membership for Sweden, Finland

Turkey confirms opposition to NATO membership for Sweden, Finland

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says delegations from the two countries bidding for NATO ‘shouldn’t bother’ coming to Ankara for discussions.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed Turkey’s opposition to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, shooting down a proposal by the Nordic countries to send delegations to Ankara to address the matter.

“We will not say ‘yes’ to those [countries] who apply sanctions to Turkey to join security organisation NATO,” Erdogan said at a news conference on Monday, referring to Sweden’s 2019 decision to suspend arms sales to Turkey over its military operation in neighbouring Syria.

Turkey also accused the two bidding nations of harbouring “terror” groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), blacklisted by Ankara, the European Union and the United States.

“Neither of the countries have a clear stance against terror organisations,” Erdogan said. “How can we trust them?”

Justice ministry sources told the state news agency Anadolu on Monday that Sweden and Finland had failed to respond positively to Turkey’s 33 extradition requests over the past five years.

Ankara wanted individuals that are either accused of having links to the PKK and allied groups or of belonging to a movement blamed for the attempted overthrow of Erdogan in 2016, the agency reported.

Turkey has rebuked Stockholm especially for showing what it describes as leniency towards the PKK, which has waged an armed uprising against the Turkish state since 1984.

The Swedish foreign office said earlier on Monday that senior representatives of Sweden and Finland were planning to travel to Turkey for talks to address Ankara’s objections.

Erdogan reacted to the comments by saying: “Will they come to persuade us? Excuse us, but they shouldn’t bother”. He added that NATO would become “a place where representatives of terrorist organisations are concentrated” if the two countries join.




Ankara’s approval will be necessary for Finland and Sweden to be able to join NATO, as membership bids must be unanimously approved by the alliance’s 30 members.

Stefanie Babst, former NATO deputy assistant secretary-general for public diplomacy and an analyst at the European Leadership Network, told Al Jazeera that “Turkey will, in the end, align with the consensus and welcome Finland and Sweden as new members”.

“In the meantime, they will try to bargain in negotiations in order to get some returns,” she said.

Turkey may be aiming to obtain military equipment from Washington to upgrade its outdated F-16 fleet and ratchet up some Western support to relieve its troubled economy. On the home front, the analyst said the mention of the PKK was aimed at drawing the support of Erdogan’s nationalist voters.

Ankara’s latest rebuke came after Sweden’s government formally decided to apply for NATO membership. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson made the announcement on Monday, a day after Finnish President Sauli Niinisto confirmed that Finland will also apply for membership.

“We are leaving one era behind us and entering a new one,” Andersson told a news conference, adding that the application could be handed in on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday and would be synchronised with Finland.

Turkey surprised its NATO allies last week by saying it would not view their applications positively.

On the sidelines of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin on Sunday, Ankara adopted a more conciliatory tone and laid down its demands, saying it wanted the two countries to end support for groups such as the PKK and lift the ban on arms sales.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday stated that Sweden and Finland would be able to join NATO despite Turkey’s concerns. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also said he was confident “that we will be able to address the concerns that Turkey has expressed”.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu is scheduled to meet with Blinken in Washington on Wednesday, where Ankara’s objections are expected to figure high on the agenda.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×