Sweden stepping on 'terror mines', impeding NATO ascension: Turkish FM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
4 Feb 22:48
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The minister also recalled that Ankara had annuled a third round of trilateral talks between Turkey, Sweden and Finland on NATO membership due to the recent scandals aimed at offending Turkey.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusogly (AP)

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday that terror organizations were impeding Sweden's big to ascend to the NATO alliance.

"Terrorist organizations are laying mines [on Sweden's path to NATO membership]," Cavusoglu said, noting that Sweden is 'deliberately' stepping on these mines.

"They can clear them if they want... We will sit down, talk and keep our word after Stockholm fulfills its obligations. However, in the current situation, Turkey cannot say yes to Sweden's accession to NATO," Cavusoglu added.

The minister also recalled that Ankara had annulled a third round of trilateral talks between Turkey, Sweden, and Finland on NATO membership due to the recent scandals aimed "at offending Turkey."

On Wednesday, Cavusoglu said Turkey does not believe Sweden is taking tangible steps to fulfill its commitments to Ankara regarding the country's NATO membership

Following the outbreak of the Ukraine war, Sweden and Finland both submitted applications to join NATO last year. However, their bids for accession require the unanimous approval of all 30 NATO member states to be considered.

Turkey is one of the two remaining countries to have not approved the applications, and they're trying to draw as many concessions as possible from the Scandinavian countries in exchange for approval on their ascension into NATO.