Turkey Says Nordic Promises Must Be Kept For NATO Approval

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara the country wants to see Sweden and Finland upholding their pledges under the new trilateral memorandum, signed this week, in order to secure Turkey’s support for their NATO membership bids.

An accord signed with Finland and Sweden to lift Turkey’s veto on their NATO membership bids is not the end of the matter and obliges the Nordic states to keep their promises, President Tayyip Erdogan was cited as saying on Friday.

After four hours of talks in Madrid on Tuesday, Erdogan and his Finnish and Swedish counterparts agreed on a series of security measures in return for backing by Ankara, which had raised concerns about terrorism and arms embargoes.

Speaking to reporters on a flight back from the NATO summit in Madrid, Erdogan said there was no need to rush ratifying the two bids in parliament.

Ankara should first see if they keep promises made under the memorandum, including on extraditing suspects sought by Turkey, he said.

Asked about the extradition of suspects, Erdogan said if the Nordic countries did not send these individuals “then we will do what is necessary through our institutions and units.”