Published on: 05/22/2022 – 16:36 Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called on Sweden to “put an end to its political and financial support and to the supply of arms to terrorist organizations”. A statement following the first words of the Turkish head of state on May 13. He then opposed the enlargement of NATO to Stockholm, which he accuses of being “hostels for terrorists” of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday May 21 called on Sweden to “put an end to its political and financial support and to the supply of arms to terrorist organizations”, maintaining its opposition to its entry into NATO. of the Turkish State had its first telephone talks with its Swedish counterparts, Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson, and Finnish President Sauli Ninistö, as well as with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, since the beginning of the open crisis between Ankara and these two countries, about their membership in the Atlantic Alliance. In a press release published just after the call with Magdalena Anderson, Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicates “expect Sweden to take concrete and serious measures, showing that it shares Turkey’s concerns about the terrorist organization of the PKK (the Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and its extensions in Syria and Iraq”. He also asks Stockholm to “lift its restrictions” on arms exports to Ankara since October 2019, following Turkey’s military operations in northern Syria and Iraq against positions of the PKK and its Kurdish YPG allies, backed by the United States against the Islamic State organization.>> To read: Can Turkey block the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO? “The sustained dialogue continues” At the end of this first interview, Recep Tayyip Erdogan also exchanged with his Finnish counterpart, in an apparently more conciliatory mode. According to the presidency, he asserted “Turkey’s natural right to expect respect and support in its legitimate fight against threats to its security and its population”. directly with President Erdogan””I underlined that as NATO allies, Finland and Turkey would be committed to each other for their security and that their relations would grow stronger” , says Sauli Niinitö. “Finland condemns terrorism in all its forms. Sustained dialogue continues,” he insisted. Turkey opened a crisis within NATO – of which it is a member – by opposing the extension of the organization to the two Nordic countries: it accuses them of harboring and supporting members of the PKK, classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara but also by Washington and the European Union. Stockholm and Helsinki officially submitted their application for membership on Monday to the Atlantic Alliance following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ankara has been careful to maintain relations with kyiv and Moscow since the start of the war. With AFP