Turkey, Sweden, Finland and NATO sign statement after talks

Flags of NATO member countries at the organization's headquarters in Brussels. File photoANKARA, June 28Turkey, Sweden, Finland and NATO signed a joint statement after talks in Madrid, state TV channel TRT Haber said, which provided a video from the signing ceremony. Finland and Sweden against the backdrop of a Russian special military operation in Ukraine, on May 18, applications for membership in the alliance were submitted to the NATO Secretary General. Turkey has blocked the start of the process of consideration of these applications. Erdogan said that Ankara cannot say «yes» to Finland and Sweden's membership in NATO, because it cannot believe their assurances about relations with representatives of the Kurdistan Workers' Party banned in Turkey. The signing ceremony took place immediately after the negotiations with the participation of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. From the Turkish side, the document was signed by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.