Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a round of talks with the leaders of Sweden, Finland and NATO ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid on Tuesday, his spokesman said. However, the talks do not mean that “we are stepping back from our position”, the spokesperson said.
Finland and Sweden have applied for NATO membership in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the candidatures have met opposition from Turkey, which is angry over the support the two countries are providing to Kurdish militants and arms embargoes against Turkey, according to Ankara.
Erdogan and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal will first attend a round of talks with Swedish and Finnish delegations in Brussels on Monday. The presidential spokesman said Turkey and the Nordic countries are largely in agreement on issues. However, they would be in an even better position in Madrid if they could come to an agreement in Brussels.
NATO leaders will meet in Madrid on June 29-30. Any NATO membership requires the approval of all thirty members of the alliance. Turkey has been a NATO ally for more than 70 years and has the second largest army in the alliance.