ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged Finland and Sweden to take "concrete steps" to fulfil their obligations before joining NATO.
"They have not yet fulfilled their pledges made in the documents (to join NATO)," Cavusoglu said during the annual Ambassadors' Conference, convened in Ankara to review Turkish foreign policy. Following the commencement of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war on February 24, Finland and Sweden agreed to join NATO.
However, Turkey initially rejected their accession attempt, accusing both nations of aiding terrorist organisations when they refused Ankara's extradition demands for suspects linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Gulen movement.
On June 28, the three countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that addressed Turkey's concerns at the NATO summit in Madrid, in which Finland and Sweden pledged to support Ankara's fight against terrorism and agreed to expedite and thoroughly address its "pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects."
NATO members, including Turkey, signed accession documents for Sweden and Finland in early July, kicking off the process of admitting the two Nordic countries to the military alliance. The next stage is for all NATO nations' parliaments to ratify their membership in NATO.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in July that his country might suspend Finland and Sweden's NATO membership if they failed to keep counter-terrorism agreements.
"We want to know why the required steps aren't being implemented. We are not under any timing constraints. Of course, there is a time constraint in the fight against terrorism, but these are the countries that want to join NATO "Cavusoglu stated this on Thursday.
The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union, has been fighting the Turkish government for more than three decades. The Gulen movement is headed and named after the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who is considered as a spiritual leader by his followers.
The Turkish government accuses the movement of masterminding the failed coup in 2016, which killed at least 250 people.
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