The visit of the Swedish and Finnish delegations to Turkey has been delayed, and the countries are waiting for a response from Ankara.

APA reports that Milliyet newspaper reported this.

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that Turkey prevented Finland and Sweden from applying for NATO membership.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara could not say "yes" to Finland's and Sweden's NATO membership because it could not believe their promises to deal with representatives of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party in Turkey.

If Turkey agrees, NATO, Erdogan said, "will not be a security organization, it will become a place where there are many terrorists."

It should be noted that countries cannot be admitted to the union without the unanimous consent of all members.

It should be noted that the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö said on Twitter that he had an open and direct telephone conversation with President Erdogan:

"I have stated that, as NATO allies, Finland and Turkey will be committed to each other's security, and thus our relationship will be further strengthened.

Finland condemns all forms and manifestations of terrorism.

Our close dialogue continues. "