Prague, January 17 (QNA) - The Turkish Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar said today that Sweden and Finland are not fulfilling their obligations within the framework of the tripartite memorandum concluded with Ankara regarding their membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
This came in a press statement, during his visit to the Turkish embassy in the Czech capital, Prague, coming from London after having met his British counterpart Ben Wallace.
In response to a question about the path of Sweden and Finland's accession to NATO, the Turkish official said that Turkey supports NATO's open-door policy.
Akar pointed out that the two countries are not fulfilling their commitments contained in the tripartite memorandum concluded in the Spanish capital, Madrid, last June.
He stressed that Ankara is waiting to see concrete steps from both countries regarding ending support for terrorist organizations as well as lifting export restrictions off Turkey.
Sweden still needs Turkey's approval of its request - a Turkish approval conditioned by Stockholm cracking down on groups that President Erdogan's administration describes as terrorists.
On June 28, Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding regarding the accession of the latter two countries to NATO, after the two European countries pledged to respond to Ankara's demands regarding cooperation in the fight against terrorism. (QNA)