Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan gently reminded Sweden and Finland to comply with Ankara's conditions for them to be part of NATO.
Initially, Turkey opposed the two Nordic nations because they harbored hostile outlaw groups opposed to Ankara. How Sweden and Finland deal with these conditions favorably or not might cut short the broken deadlock.
All NATO Countries Need To Approve New Membership
Ankara has addressed an official letter to the two Nordic nations to abide by the deal and send the terrorists, reported RT.
Accepting the demand of the Turkish leader is important that the terrorists be extradited. After delaying their applications for weeks and, among other things, accusing them of giving asylum to PKK members, Turkey finally accepted the countries' requests to join NATO in late June.
Bekir Bozdag, Turkey's justice minister, was quoted by TRT Haber TV as saying on Wednesday that Sweden and Finland had received a letter reminding them of the requests for the extradition of PKK and FETO terrorists, noted Azerbaycan 24.
The PKK is a Kurdish organization established in the late 1970s and fights for the independence of Turkey's biggest ethnic minority.
It has waged armed resistance against the Turkish government for decades and is considered a terrorist group not just in its own country but also in the US and EU, citing the Press United.
The Fethullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), as the name suggests, was founded by exiled Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Erdogan and Ankara officials say is the mastermind behind Turkey's failed coup attempt in 2016.
It falls to Sweden and Finland to do what needs to be done with Ankara's conditions to ensure they enter the military bloc with no further hassle.
Sweden, Finland Expressed Interest To Join NATO
These Nordic nations requested to join NATO in mid-May, citing Russia as a potential threat. However, all current members must agree for a candidate country to be admitted to the military alliance.
These two countries' applications were first rejected by Turkey, which outlined several requirements each had to satisfy before Ankara reconsidered its stand.
Due to their affiliations to the two groups in question, several refugees wanted by Ankara had to be deported by Sweden and Finland at the Turkish government's request.
Additionally, the administration of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded that Sweden and Finland remove the arms embargoes they had imposed on Turkey after its foray into northern Syria in 2019.
Initial Acceptance Into NATO
Before last week's session in Madrid between the military bloc, the impasse was ultimately broken.
Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of NATO, announced last Tuesday that the three countries had acknowledged documents allowing Finland and Sweden to join the coalition, but Turkey must be satisfied first. The office of President Erdogan remarked that Turkey had what it wanted.
Finland and Sweden confirmed that the PKK is a terrorist group that has been outlawed as part of the agreement and their commitment to putting an end to the PKK's and all other terrorist groups and their affiliates' operations.
Furthermore, Sweden and Finland agreed to stop supporting Gulen's organization and the Kurdish YPG militia in northern Syria, which Ankara considers affiliated with the PPK.
Finally, the two Nordic nations announced that there were no longer any arms embargoes against Turkey.
Tayyip Erdogan is deadly serious that Sweden and Finland accept Ankara's conditions regarding extraditions of elements hostile to Turkey, or the fanfare of them joining will be short-lived.
