Sweden said Thursday that it does not finance terrorism, as claimed by Ankara, which says this is preventing Turkey from backing the Nordic country's bid to join NATO.

The Swedish government issued a statement describing its aid strategy to counter the Turkish government's security concerns.

Finland and Sweden are applying to join NATO, ending their long-held neutral stance after Russia's invasion of Ukraine altered the European security situation.

However, the defense alliance member countries have to unanimously agree for new members to join, and Turkey is blocking Helsinki and Stockholm, saying both should halt propaganda and financing the "terrorist organizations" such as the PKK terrorist group and its Syrian branch, the YPG.

Turkish security forces often clash with the YPG along the border and in Syria. Ankara believes the group is linked to a wider insurgency. The United States, by contrast, works closely with the YPG in Syria, considering it a key ally in its fight against the Daesh terrorist group. Sweden and Finland, among others, also imposed restrictions on arms exports to Turkey after a Turkish military operation against the YPG in 2019, angering Ankara.

Sweden is a major donor to humanitarian actors responding to the Syrian crisis through global organizations, mainly the United Nations, that operate in the region, including in Turkey, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Sweden has a regional development cooperation strategy for the Syria crisis, which aims to support the Syrian people, as well as Syrian refugees and their host communities in neighbouring countries," the ministry said in the statement issued late on Wednesday evening.

"Sweden does not give any financial aid or military support to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) or the YPG/YPJ," the ministry statement said.

Sweden's regional strategy received funding of 3.21 billion Swedish kroner ($376 million) between 2016 and 2023. "Syrian Kurds benefit from the support given to north-east Syria in particular, but Sweden does not give any targeted support to Syrian Kurds or to the political or military structures in north-east Syria."

Around half of the sum funds projects supporting refugees and host communities in neighbouring countries, primarily Lebanon and Jordan.

Regarding support to Syria, Sweden's government agency for development cooperation (SIDA) supports activities in all parts of the country where there are significant needs, the statement said.

Support for north-east Syria last year amounted to the equivalent of just under 9.5 million euros ($10.1 million), the ministry said.

As diplomatic talks to overcome Turkey's objections to Nordic countries' NATO bid continue, French President Emmanuel Macron asked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday to "respect the sovereign choice" of Finland and Sweden to join NATO.

He was hoping to avoid Ankara vetoing their requests to join the trans-Atlantic defence pact.

Turkey warned Wednesday that the NATO accession process for Sweden and Finland would not move forward unless they addressed Ankara's security concerns, a reference to their supposed sympathy toward terrorist groups.

"The president underscored the need to respect the sovereign choice of these two countries, which emerged from a democratic process and in reaction to the changes in their security environment," Macron's office said after a telephone call with Erdoğan.

"He said he hoped the discussions would continue to find a solution quickly," his office added.

Also, the NATO chief on Thursday expressed understanding of Turkey's security concerns on Finland and Sweden's membership bids, saying Ankara is a "very important" ally of the alliance.

"When an ally raises a problem, you have to solve it. It's always been done that way," Jens Stoltenberg told Spanish media, recalling Greece's veto on North Macedonia, which cost the country more than 10 years to join NATO.

"No one has suffered as many terrorist attacks as Turkey," Stoltenberg reiterated.

His remarks came ahead of his Madrid visit next week, where a NATO summit will take place in late June.

Differentiating Kurds from listed terrorist groups, he said: "You speak of Kurds, but we must accept that there are several Kurdish groups and the PKK is on the list of terrorist organizations of the European Union."

On the participation of Stockholm and Helsinki in the upcoming NATO summit, he said they will attend as guests, since it is "difficult" for them to consolidate their aspirations as candidate countries if they do not respond to Turkey's demands before June 28.

Ankara hosted on Wednesday consultations with Swedish and Finnish delegations on their NATO applications in the capital. According to Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın, it has been conveyed that their NATO bids cannot progress unless Turkey's security concerns are addressed through concrete steps, and in a certain timeframe.