NATO should take into account Turkey's fears, says Erdogan adviser

NATO logo. Archival photoANKARA, May 25.The official representative, chief adviser to the President of Turkey, Ibrahim Kalin, said that without satisfaction of Ankara's fears, there can be no question of any process for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.» They (Sweden and Finland — ed.) stated that they understand our concerns. We provided them with all the facts,» Kalyn said at a press conference following negotiations with the delegations of the two countries in Ankara.The Pentagon believes that Sweden and Finland will be able to negotiate with TurkeyFinland and Sweden, against the backdrop of the events in Ukraine, on May 18 handed over to 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 that the country «needs a written agreement» with Sweden and Finland «on a concrete step» by these countries to stop their support for terrorism. «A clear position was conveyed that without satisfying our concerns, no process there can be no question,» Kalyn said at a press conference. 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. Finland and NATO sign a Technical Mutual Support Agreement