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Erdogan and NATO's top official discuss Finland and Sweden entering the alliance

Key Takeaways:


As part of his efforts to overcome Turkish opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited with Finland's Prime Minister and spoke with Turkey's President.


Stoltenberg met with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Washington this week and addressed "the need to address Turkey's concerns as well as move on" with the Finnish and also Swedish membership applications, according to a tweet late Friday.


The Nordic countries were forced to join NATO by Russia's war in Ukraine. Still, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Sweden and Finland of backing Kurdish militants whom Turkey considers terrorists.


Stoltenberg called Erdogan a "valuable ally" and praised his efforts to secure a deal to assure the safe passage of grain supplies from Ukrainian amid the global food shortages caused by Russia's incursion. Stoltenberg stated on Twitter that he and Erdogan would keep talking, but he didn't elaborate.




Erdogan's office said in a statement that the president highlighted that Sweden and Finland should "make it apparent that they have stopped backing terrorism," that they have eliminated defense export restrictions on Turkey, and also that they are "ready to show alliance solidarity."


Following Turkey's military incursion into northern Syria in 2019, the Nordic states, among others, implemented restrictions on arms sales.


NEXT WEEK, the NATO chief's diplomatic efforts come ahead of a meeting of top officials from Sweden, Finland, and Turkey in Brussels, where NATO is headquartered, to discuss Turkey's opposition to the applications.