Sweden, Finland and Turkey hold NATO talks, agree to more meetings

Turkey has acknowledged that Sweden and Finland have taken concrete steps to meet Ankara's concerns over their bids to join NATO and the three will hold further meetings, Sweden's chief negotiator in the accession process said on Thursday.

Sweden and Finland applied last year to join NATO, but faced unexpected objections from Turkey which says the two countries harbor members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), considered a terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies.

"We see that Turkey recognized that both Sweden and Finland have taken concrete steps in this agreement, which is a good sign," chief negotiator Oscar Stenstrom told a news conference at NATO headquarters after trilateral talks resumed.

"A little step forward, the talks have restarted and we have agreed that we will continue to meet and I can't say exactly when."

President Tayyip...

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