Turkey will continue with its stance toward the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Thursday after Ankara has several times voiced that it expects security guarantees.

"NATO is a security organization, we cannot accept that it includes terrorist organizations. These countries host the PKK and the YPG," Erdoğan told a group of Turkish youth in the video for Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day, a national holiday.

Turkey last week said it would not view the applications of Finland and Sweden positively, mainly citing their history of support to terrorist organizations, including the PKK and its Syrian wing, the YPG. In response to a Turkish operation against the PKK’s Syrian wing, the YPG in 2019, Sweden and Finland, among others, imposed restrictions on arms exports to Turkey. Over the last five years, both Sweden and Finland have failed to agree to Ankara's requests for the extradition of dozens of terrorists, including members of the PKK and the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Turkey.

Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 has swung political and public opinion in Finland and neighboring Sweden in favor of NATO membership as a deterrent against Russian aggression.

Sweden and Finland formally submitted applications for NATO membership to Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in an online video ceremony earlier on Wednesday. Stoltenberg said the alliance would assess the membership bid as quickly as possible, but stressed that the security interests of all allies "have to be taken into account," referring to Turkey's objections.

All 30 members of the alliance must agree before new members can join.

Finnish and Swedish diplomats plan to travel to Ankara to discuss commitments in the fight against terrorism and potential arms deals, among others.

On Wednesday, Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın had a series of telephone conversations with advisers to the heads of state and foreign ministries of Germany, Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the Turkish presidency.

During these talks, Kalın indicated that Turkey was waiting for "concrete steps" to address its concerns about its national security."

In the event of "non-fulfillment of Turkey's expectations," the accession process of the two Nordic countries "cannot move forward," Kalın added.

Ankara's main demands are for the Nordic countries to halt support for the PKK and the YPG groups present on their territory, and to lift their bans on some sales of arms to Turkey. Ankara says the arms ban is inappropriate for prospective members of a security pact.

"Sweden's membership in NATO cannot be done until Turkey's well-founded concerns are dispelled. If you want NATO's second army to defend you in the event of aggression, you must accept this reality," Turkish Presidency Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said in an opinion piece published on the same day in the Swedish daily Expressen.

Altun also warned that if one of the members of an organization with the slogan "All for one, one for all" is indifferent about the safety of others, this poses a clear risk to the identity of NATO.

‘Concerns can be addressed’

Speaking to reporters ahead of his bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said Turkey has been in support of NATO's open-door policy for new members, adding: "We understand their security concerns, but Turkey’s security concerns should also be met."

"Everyone says that Turkey’s concerns must be met, but this must not just be with words, it must be implemented," he said.

"We already expressed our concerns and I had a candid and direct talk with two colleagues," he said.

The U.S., on the other hand, said it is "confident" that Turkey's concerns over accession to NATO by Finland and Sweden can be overcome. "We're confident that at the end of the day Finland and Sweden" will enter NATO and "that Turkey's concerns can be addressed," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.

"We feel very good about where this will track to," he said.

Closer Turkey-U.S. cooperation

Ankara and Washington confirmed their willingness to deepen ties and cooperation in the face of ongoing challenges as the Turkish and American top diplomats met in New York.

A joint statement issued after a meeting between Blinken and Çavuşoğlu said the top diplomats "intend to deepen bilateral cooperation through constructive and open dialogue as envisioned by the U.S.-Turkey Strategic Mechanism."

"They discussed ways and assessed concrete steps to enhance their cooperation on defense issues, counterterrorism, energy and food security, combatting climate change and boosting trade ties, while agreeing to intensify consultations on a range of regional issues," it said. "They also reiterated their support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russia’s unacceptable war. Within this framework, the United States and Turkey reaffirmed their support to find a solution to end the war."

Erdoğan similarly on Thursday speaking on the issue said that Turkey is continuing with its balancing policies with both Russia and Ukraine. "In this policy, I do not intend to cut ties with either Mr. Putin or Mr. Zelenskyy."

Turkey is one of the most active countries working to ensure a permanent cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. Its delicately balanced act of assuming a role as a mediator by keeping communication channels with both warring sides open provides a glimmer of hope in diplomatic efforts to find a solution and achieve peace in the Ukraine crisis. With its unique position of having friendly relations with both Russia and Ukraine, Turkey has won widespread praise for its push to end the war.

While Ankara has opposed international sanctions designed to isolate Moscow, it also closed its straits to prevent some Russian vessels from crossing through them.

F-16 talks going positively

Çavuşoğlu said earlier that talks with the U.S. regarding the sale of F-16 jets to Ankara were progressing positively. He referred to a State Department letter to the U.S. Congress which said the delivery of the jets "is not only important for Turkey, but for the U.S."

"I can say that our negotiations and the meetings are going on positively, and the Congress should work on it as well," Çavuşoğlu told reporters.

The Turkish government requested the F-16s and modernization kits in October 2021. The $6 billion (TL 95.8 billion) deal would include the sale of 40 newly built F-16V fighter jets and modernization kits for 80 F-16 C/D models that the Turkish Air Forces Command has in its inventory.