Erdogan says Turkey doesn’t support Sweden, Finland joining NATO

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• NATO ascension for a new member state requires consensus approval from all existing members.
  
• Turkey joined NATO in 1952, and has the second-largest military in the 30-member alliance after the United States.
  
• Finland’s leaders on Thursday called for NATO membership “without delay” and neighboring Sweden is expected to follow suit.
  

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has thrown Sweden and Finland’s potential NATO membership into doubt, just as both countries are on the cusp of applying to join the alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“We are following the developments regarding Sweden and Finland, but we don’t hold positive views,” Erdogan told press in Istanbul on Friday.

NATO ascension for a new member state requires consensus approval from all existing members.

A senior American diplomat said the U.S. is working to clarify Turkey’s official position on the matter. The issue will be discussed at the NATO ministerial meeting in Berlin over the weekend, Karen Donfried, assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasian affairs, was quoted by Reuters as saying in a press call later on Friday.

Turkey joined NATO in 1952, and has the second-largest military in the 30-member alliance after the United States. Erdogan referenced the Nordic countries’ hosting of members of the Kurdish Workers’ Party, or PKK, which Turkey classifies as a terrorist group.

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