Turkey to discuss concerns on Finland, Sweden NATO membership bids in Brussels

Turkish officials will discuss Ankara's concerns regarding Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bids at talks in Brussels on Sunday, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday.

Sweden and Finland applied to join the US-led Western alliance last month, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Their applications have faced opposition from Turkey, which has been infuriated by what it calls Swedish and Finnish support for Kurdish militants and arms embargoes on Ankara.

Last month, Turkey gave Finland and Sweden written demands to address its concerns, but Cavusoglu said on Wednesday that the letters from NATO and Stockholm in response were "far from meeting our expectations".

Speaking at a news conference in Zagreb on Friday, Cavusoglu said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, who is also his chief foreign policy adviser, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal would travel to Brussels on Sunday for talks.

"They (NATO) sent a document, one that could be signed in a trilateral way. We found these documents insufficient and sent our own document in response. We said 'negotiations can continue through this'," Cavusoglu said.

"Onal and presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin will travel to Brussels on Sunday night and they will carry out work with NATO on this document, but we remind NATO and all parties of our determination on this issue," he added.

NATO leaders will convene in Madrid on June 29-30 to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as the Nordic bids. Ankara has said it does not view the summit as a deadline, and progress would only be made once its concerns were addressed.

Any NATO membership requires unanimous approval from all 30 members of the alliance. Turkey has been a NATO ally for more than 70 years and has the alliance's second biggest army.

(Reuters)