Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. File photoANKARA, May 25.The Turkish Security Council, chaired by Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, will discuss on Thursday the applications of Finland and Sweden to join NATO, the Anadolu agency reports. Finland and Sweden, against the backdrop of the events in Ukraine on May 18, submitted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg applications for joining the alliance. Earlier it was reported that Turkey blocked the start of the process of consideration of these applications. The Turkish President said that Ankara cannot say «yes» to the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO, because it cannot believe their assurances about relations with representatives of the Kurdistan Workers' Party banned in Turkey. On Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the country «needs a written agreement» with Sweden and Finland «on a concrete step» by these countries to stop their support for terrorism. .jpg» />The United States named the countries that form the «front» within NATO «The Turkish National Security Council, chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will discuss at a meeting on May 26 the applications of Finland and Sweden to join NATO, the situation in the Pençe-Kilit anti-terrorist operation zone in northern Iraq, as well as building up the military arsenal of neighboring Greece,» the agency reports. According to the agency, during the third meeting of the Turkish National Security Council since the beginning of the year, other topics of interest to Ankara will be touched upon, including the Russian military operation in Ukraine. In the context of the situation in the north of the Black Sea, there will be an exchange of views on Turkey's peace initiatives around Ukraine, mediation initiatives, humanitarian aid supplies and efforts to achieve a long-term truce. rights of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The members of the Council will also discuss steps to form a security zone near Turkey's southern borders, including the conduct of anti-terrorist operations,» the message says. Russia has repeatedly noted that NATO is aimed at confrontation. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov stated that further expansion of the alliance would not bring greater security to Europe, NATO has an aggressive character. At the same time, he noted that he did not consider the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO an existential threat to Russia. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that abandoning Finland's traditional policy of military neutrality would be a mistake, since there are no threats to its security. «Turkey has options.» Erdogan's ally allowed the country's withdrawal from NATO
