Turkish President Erdogan has indicated that Finland may join NATO alone, without Sweden.

(Reuters)

[Instant News/Comprehensive Report] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on the 29th local time that because of the heightened tension with Sweden, Turkey may agree to Finland's joining NATO alone, excluding Sweden.

"Reuters" reported that Erdogan said in a TV interview yesterday: "We may send a different message to the Finnish side regarding the application of Switzerland and Finland to join NATO. Shocked", Erdogan also emphasized: "Finland should not repeat the mistakes of Sweden".

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After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland jointly applied to join NATO.

Since new members need to obtain the unanimous approval of the original 30 member states, Sweden and Finland have not yet been able to formally join NATO because Turkey and Hungary have not yet approved it.

The Turkish government says Sweden has harbored militants known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has continued to confront the Turkish government.

President Edogan told the media: "We provided Sweden with a list of 120 people and asked them to extradite these terrorists; if you (referring to Sweden) do not intend to extradite them, then I am sorry".

Turkey has suspended NATO talks with Sweden and Finland following protests in the Swedish capital Stockholm in which a far-right extremist burned the Koran.

In fact, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu (Mevlut Cavusoglu) hinted last Thursday (26th): "No one proposed to assess the respective membership status of Sweden and Finland separately."