President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened today that Turkey will not ratify the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO until these two countries fulfill their promises to Ankara.

"Until the promises made to our country are fulfilled, we will remain firm on our principled position," Erdogan said in his speech to parliament.

"We will closely monitor whether the promises made by Sweden and Finland are fulfilled or not, and the final decision, of course, is in the hands of our excellent parliament," he added.

Russia's attack on Ukraine in February forced Finland and Sweden to abandon their long-standing policy of neutrality and apply for NATO membership.

Although the countries had hoped for a quick accession, Turkey's objections delayed the process.

Erdogan accuses both countries of providing asylum to Kurdish rebels, especially members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), fighting against Turkey, and of promoting "terrorism."

In June, a trilateral agreement was reached, which provided for extradition and exchange of information and opened the way for the official invitation of the two countries to the alliance.

At the moment, 28 of the 30 NATO member countries have ratified the membership of Finland and Sweden. Only Hungary and Turkey have not sent a request for accession to the Parliament for ratification.

Making a significant concession to Ankara, Sweden announced yesterday that it would allow the resumption of military exports to Turkey, which was suspended in 2019 after Ankara's military operation in northeastern Syria.

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