Turkey says talks on Finland and Sweden's NATO bids to continue, but summit not a deadline

Discussions between Turkey, Finland and Sweden about the Nordic countries' NATO membership will continue but an alliance summit in Madrid next week is not a deadline, Turkish Presidential Spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said after talks in Brussels on Monday.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in response to Russia's invastion of Ukraine. But, the bids have been faced opposition from Turkey, which has been angered by what it says Helsinki and Stockholm's support for Kurdish militants and arms embargoes on Ankara.

Speaking to reporters in Brussels after talks within NATO on the issue, Kalin said Ankara was expecting Sweden, especially, to take immediate steps regarding actions by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group in its country, and that any progress on the Nordic membership bids "now depends on the direction and speed at which these countries will take steps".

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