Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who opposes Sweden's entry into NATO, called on it on Saturday to "
put an end to its political and financial support and arms deliveries to terrorist organizations
".
Read alsoNATO: Erdogan determined to block the entry of Sweden and Finland
The Turkish head of state had his first telephone conversation on Saturday with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson since the beginning of the open crisis between the two countries, as well as with Finland, about their joining the Atlantic Alliance. .
In a statement issued just after this call, Erdogan said he "
expects Sweden to take concrete and serious measures, showing that it shares Turkey's concerns about the terrorist organization of the PKK (the des Travailleurs du Kurdistan, editor’s note) and its extensions in Syria and Iraq
”.
It also asks Stockholm to "
lift its restrictions
" on arms exports to Ankara since October 2019, following military operations led by Turkey in northern Syria and Iraq against PKK positions and of his Kurdish allies in the YPG, supported by the United States against the Islamic State.
This phone call between the two leaders was not expected.
The Turkish president must also meet with his Finnish counterpart.
Turkey has 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 terrorist organization by Ankara but also Washington and the European Union.
Stockholm and Helsinki officially submitted their applications to join the Alliance on Monday following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Ankara has ensured since the start of the war to maintain relations with the two belligerents.