The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, Mevlut Cavusoglusaid today that he will discuss it integration issue her Finland and her Sweden to NATO in the talks he will have next week with the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken.

In statements after his meeting with the Secretary General of NATO Jens StoltenbergCavusoglu said bilateral relations, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would also be discussed with Blinken.

For Stoltenberg’s part, he called on Ankara to “now” welcome Finland and Sweden to the Atlantic Alliance, whose candidacies for membership have been blocked by Turkey since May.

“I still think it’s time now to ratify the membership of Finland and Sweden at the same time,” Stoltenberg said at a press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

NATO’s secretary general, who went to Turkey to show the Alliance’s support after the devastating February 6 earthquake that killed at least 36,000 people in the country, had on Tuesday for the first time hinted at the possibility of Finland joining ahead of Sweden. Alliance.

He stated, however, that he seeks to secure “as soon as possible” the final ratifications of Turkey and Hungary for the two countries.

Erdogan hinted in early February that the Turkish parliament could ratify Finland’s membership without Sweden’s, which was tabled alongside it, which Ankara still blocks.

“It would not be realistic to say that Sweden has fully fulfilled its obligations arising from the protocol of agreement” signed in June between Turkey, Sweden and Finland, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reiterated today.

Cavusoglu reiterated that Turkey is ready to “evaluate Finland’s NATO accession process separately from Sweden’s”.

Turkey accuses Sweden, among others, of offering sanctuary to Kurdish fighters and supporters whom it describes as terrorists, mainly those of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The leaders of NATO’s 30 member countries took the decision to invite Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance during the summit in Madrid in July 2022.

Thirty countries signed the accession protocols and 28 ratified them. Only Turkey and Hungary have yet to ratify their agreement.

A decision in January by Swedish authorities to allow a demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, during which a copy of the Koran was burned, angered Ankara, which halted negotiations by postponing a tripartite meeting that was due to take place in February.

NATO member countries have offered 40 containers and 20,000 tents to house earthquake victims.