Turkey Has Not Received Expected Support from Its Allies, Erdogan Says

Turkey has not received expected support from its NATO allies regarding defense or the fight against terrorism. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated this at the Gölcük shipyard.

“Turkey has not received the expected support from its allies either in terms of meeting its own defense needs or in the context of its 40-year fight against terrorism. Our country has repeatedly been subjected to obvious and secret sanctions, threats, pressure, and blackmail,” said the Turkish leader.

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that Turkey has blocked NATO's examination of applications for Finland and Sweden’s membership. Erdogan announced that Ankara cannot say “yes” to NATO's expansion with Finland and Sweden, as it does not believe that these countries have no ties with representatives of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey. If Turkey agrees, according to Erdogan, NATO would “become not a security-ensuring organization but a place where representatives of terrorists would be present.” Countries cannot be part of the alliance without unanimous approval from all members.