Finland and Sweden will send teams to Ankara on Wednesday to try to overcome Turkey resistance to their NATO membership bids, according to Pekka Haavisto, Finland’s foreign minister.

“We are sending our delegations to visit Ankara, actually both Sweden and Finland. This will happen tomorrow, so the dialogue is continuing,” during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Haavisto remarked.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoan, who has opposed Sweden and Finland joining NATO, spoke with the presidents of both countries on Saturday and expressed his worries.

Turkey claims that Sweden and Finland are harbouring members of the PKK terrorist organisation and supporters of Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara accuses of planning a failed coup attempt in 2016.

“We understand that Turkey has some of their own security concerns vis a vis terrorism … We think that these issues can be settled. There might be also some issues that are not linked directly to Finland and Sweden but more to other NATO members, “Haavisto added.

According to the Turkish president, Erdoan told Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on Saturday that Ankara expects tangible efforts to resolve its concerns. According to the report, he also stated that an arms export ban placed on Turkey in 2019 should be eased.

On Saturday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto claimed he had conducted “open and straightforward” phone discussions with Erdoan.

After the call, Niinisto tweeted, “I stated that as NATO allies Finland and Turkey will commit to each other’s security and our relationship will thus grow stronger,“

On Saturday, Erdoan talked with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, informing him that Ankara will not support Sweden and Finland’s NATO aspirations unless they demonstrate unambiguous cooperation in the fight against terrorism and other challenges.

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