The NATO countries will meet for a summit on Tuesday. On the side, an attempt is to be made to bring Turkey to a compromise on the matter of NATO’s northern expansion. But that could be difficult.
One day before the start of the NATO summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled no willingness to compromise on NATO’s northern expansion. “Tomorrow we will go to the NATO summit in Spain and do everything necessary in accordance with the rights and interests of our country,” Erdogan said on Monday, according to the government.
The interlocutors will be explained the “hypocrisy” towards “terrorist organizations” with “documents, information and pictures”.
Turkey opposes Sweden and Finland joining
Erdogan has lodged an objection to Sweden and Finland joining NATO. He accuses them of supporting “terrorist organizations”. The 30 NATO countries will meet in Madrid on Tuesday for a multi-day summit. On the sidelines, attempts should again be made to overcome the Turkish blockade. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Erdogan.
The Turkish reference to “terrorist organizations” refers to the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG, which Sweden and Finland are said to support – which both countries deny. Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in mid-May.
Erdogan also repeated his announcement of a new offensive in Syria on Monday. It will begin as soon as the preparations are complete. Ankara justifies this with the fight against the YPG. The country already occupies areas in northern Syria.