Sweden, Finland seek to persuade Turkey in NATO talks

Officials from Sweden and Finland are in Turkey trying to resolve Ankara's opposition to their joining the military alliance. The two countries submitted their applications in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Delegations from Sweden and Finland were in Ankara on Wednesday seeking to address Turkish objections to their joining the NATO military alliance.

Turkey objects to the accession of the Nordic countries, citing their perceived support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, and other entities. Ankara claims such groups are a threat to its security.

The two countries' applications to join the alliance as a defense against feared aggression from Russia would end decades of military neutrality.

Finland — which shares a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) border with Russia — and its neighbor Sweden have been disturbed by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

The PKK is listed as a terror organization by several of Turkey's allies, including the EU. It has conducted a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has personally expressed deep opposition to giving the green light to the enlargement unless there are major concessions.

The Swedish delegation, led by State Secretary Oscar Stenstrom, and the Finnish delegation, led by his counterpart Jukka Salovaara, met Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Onal at the presidential palace in Ankara.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, visiting Israel on Wednesday, announced the three-way meeting in advance on Tuesday. He said that Turkey would present its demands for lifting the veto at that meeting, reports DW.