Turkey 'not in a position' to ratify Swedish NATO bid: Ankara
Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin says Turkey is not in a position to send a ratification law to the parliament.
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Ibrahim Kalin and Turkish delegation speak with Finnish delegation in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. (AP)
Despite the measures taken by Stockholm to meet Ankara's demands, Turkey said Saturday it was "not in a position" to ratify Sweden's NATO membership.
"We are not in a position to send a (ratification) law to the parliament," Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin told reporters.
Sweden and Finland dropped decades of military non-alignment and applied last year to join the NATO in response to the war in Ukraine.
Turkey is one of the two NATO member states to oppose Sweden and Finland's membership ambitions, accusing the Nordic countries of sponsoring and hosting members of Kurdish organizations.
Earlier in December, media outlets reported that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg that until Finland and Sweden take the necessary "steps", Turkey will not ratify their membership of NATO.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan objected to Sweden and Finland joining NATO since they put in bids in May, labeling the two Nordic countries "guesthouses for terrorist organizations."
Kalin said it will take at least until June for Sweden's parliament to vote through the measures, and that Turkey would wait for all the Swedish legislation to pass before it acts.
"It will take (Sweden) about six months to write and pass the new laws," Kalin said. "They will need a bit more time."
