By Merve Aydogan, Ahmet Gencturk, and Jeyhun Aliyev
ANKARA (AA) - Turkiye has made clear to Sweden and Finland during a meeting in the capital Ankara that their NATO bid cannot progress unless Ankara's security concerns are met through concrete steps and a certain timeframe, the presidential spokesman said on Wednesday.
Noting that PKK, YPG, and PYD are all same terror groups, Turkiye conveyed its expectations on this matter to the delegations from Sweden and Finland during the meeting, Ibrahim Kalin told a news conference following the closed-door consultative meeting that lasted nearly five hours.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of at least 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG/PYD is PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
Turkiye expects the "correct implementation" of the 1999 NATO summit principles and procedures related to the alliance membership process, Kalin added.
He underlined that Ankara has been making extradition requests to Sweden and Finland for the last 10 years.
The security concerns of the NATO members should be addressed in a "just manner," Kalin stressed.
The Turkish delegation at the meeting was headed by Kalin and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal.
The participants of the meeting included Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Security Oscar Stenstrom and Permanent State Secretary for the Finnish Foreign Ministry Jukka Salovaara, along with their delegations.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO last week -- a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.
But Turkiye, a longstanding member of the alliance, has voiced objections to their membership bids, criticizing the Baltic states for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.