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NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg was received on Friday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been blocking the entry of Sweden and Finland into the Atlantic Alliance since May. Erdogan accuses the two countries of protecting, among others, the Kurdish fighters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), considered terrorists by Ankara.
No engagement has been announced. Turkey will only ratify the entry into NATO of Sweden and Finland once both states have taken the “necessary steps”, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared on Friday, November 4, in a meeting with the head of the Atlantic Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg. .
“President Erdogan stressed that the pace and timing of the ratification process … will be determined by the steps these countries still have to take,” the Turkish presidency said in a statement after the meeting in Istanbul, which was closed. to the press.
The Turkish head of state, who will receive Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Ankara on Tuesday, has been blocking the entry of Sweden and Finland into the Atlantic Alliance since May.
Turkey accuses the two Nordic countries of protecting Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG), considered terrorists by Ankara.
trilateral memorandum
To overcome Turkey’s objections, the three countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid in June, in particular on the extradition requests demanded by Ankara.
Jens Stoltenberg “welcomed the significant and concrete steps already taken by the two countries to implement the memorandum and stressed that their accession will strengthen NATO,” the Atlantic Alliance said in a statement late Friday.
The NATO Secretary General had called on Thursday in Istanbul for Sweden and Finland to be welcomed into the Alliance to “send a clear message to Russia”, during a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu. .
To date, 28 of the 30 member states of the Atlantic Alliance have ratified the accession of the two Nordic countries, which must be approved unanimously. Apart from Turkey, only Hungary has yet to give its final approval.
*With AFP; adapted from its French version
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