These are Erdogan's conditions for Finland, Sweden's NATO accession

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Sweden and Finland should stop the support of terrorist groups in their countries, offer clear security guarantees and remove Turkey's export ban if they want Turkey to back their NATO membership. Speaking after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin, Cavusoglu said he met with his Swedish and Finnish counterparts and that they were all trying to answer Turkey's concerns, writes Croatian news agency Index.

He added that Turkey does not threaten or benefit anyone from the current situation, but spoke particularly about Sweden's support for Kurdish militants The PKK, which Turkey, the European Union and the United States consider a terrorist organisation.

Finland confirmed today that it will apply for NATO membership, and Sweden is expected to follow suit in response to Ukraine's Russian occupation. However, Turkey's concerns may be an obstacle, as any decision to membership in NATO requires the unanimous approval of 30 member states, the Express submits.

There should be absolutely security guarantees here. They must stop the support of terrorist organisations”, Cavusoglu told Turkish journalists in Berlin. Turkish Foreign Minister added that Sweden and Finland should lift the ban on exporting some of their defence industry products to Turkey.

Our location is completely open and clear. This is not a threat, it is not negotiations in which we are trying to impose our interests”, he said. “This is neither populism”, he added.

Erdogan surprised NATO

Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan surprised NATO allies and Scandinavian countries on Friday when he said Turkey cannot support enlargement because Finland and Sweden are “home to a number of terrorist organisations”, but his spokesman said Saturday that Turkey has not closed its doors.

Cavusoglu reiterated that Turkey, which joined NATO 70 years ago, is not against an open door policy. He said talks with Swedish and Finnish counterparts have been good and have made suggestions to ease Turkey's concerns.

Turkish Foreign Minister noted that he gave them “proved that terrorists live in their countries”. Cavusoglu reiterated Sweden's disrespect for Ankara's position, noting that PKK meetings were being held in Stockholm over the weekend.