ANKARA, Turkey, 30 May (Reuters) – According to the Turkish presidency, a top adviser to Turkey’s president warned his American counterpart that Turkey required “clear steps” on the existence of what it considers “terrorist organizations” in Finland and Sweden before considering their NATO ambitions.

The Turkish presidency claimed in a statement that US national security advisor Jake Sullivan and Ibrahim Kalin, President Tayyip Erdogan’s main foreign policy adviser, spoke on Monday about NATO bids and the war in Ukraine.

Turkey has objected to the two nations joining the Western defense alliance, claiming that they harbor persons related to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group and others it considers terrorists, as well as the fact that Finland and Sweden stopped exporting weaponry to Turkey in 2019.

The Turkish presidency said in a statement that Kalin told Sullivan over the phone that countries interested in joining NATO must “internalise the alliance’s ideals and principles on security and counter-terrorism.”

“It was emphasised that Sweden and Finland must take meaningful steps in relation to terrorist organisations that pose a threat to Turkey’s national security,” the statement continued.

Sweden and Finland have stated that they oppose terrorism and are willing to engage in conversation. Plans to expand NATO must be approved by all 30 NATO countries.

In comments published in The Economist on Monday, Erdogan reiterated Turkey’s commitment to NATO and urged partners to focus their efforts on “persuading” candidate countries.

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“The unyielding insistence on membership in NATO by Sweden and Finland has added an unnecessary item to NATO’s agenda,” he said. “Any country that is unwilling to tackle terrorism cannot tell Ankara what to do.”