President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Saturday urged Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson to take \u201cconcrete steps\u201d to end financial and political support for \u201cterrorist\u201d groups, the presidency said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Erdogan told Andersson in a phone call that \u201cSweden\u2019s political, financial and weapon support to terrorist organisations must end,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turkey has threatened to block Sweden and Finland\u2019s bids for NATO membership, accusing both nations of backing the outlawed Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK) listed as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Erdogan said Turkey expects Sweden to \u201ctake concrete and serious steps\u201d that show it shares Ankara\u2019s concerns over the PKK and its Iraqi and Syrian offshoots, according to the presidency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February has shifted political opinion in both Nordic countries in favour of joining the Western military alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Membership requires consent of all 30 existing members but Turkey is putting a spanner in the works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sweden and Finland, while solidly Western, have historically kept a distance from NATO as part of longstanding policies aimed at avoiding angering Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the two nations both moved ahead amid shock over their giant neighbour\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, which had unsuccessfully sought to join NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Erdogan also told the Swedish premier to \u201clift restrictions imposed on Turkey in the defence industry\u201d after the army\u2019s Syria operation in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n