NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara early on Thursday. He expressed his condolences for the victims of the earthquake and gave brief information about NATO engagement and the relief efforts.
Answering a question about the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden, he said that the time was now to ratify both Finland and Sweden, and added that he fully recognizes Turkey’s security concerns.
Turkish Foreign Minister Cavusoglu on his part said that Sweden had to take some concrete steps in certain issues. “Normally, we are not against the expansion of NATO, we are for a strong NATO”, Cavusoglu added.
