Turkey will not veto Swedish or Finnish NATO membership - international expert

Deputy Director of the Center for Middle East Studies Sergiy Danilov believes that President Erdogan has traded his chance to block NATO membership for Sweden and Finland in exchange for Turkey's prominent place in geopolitics. The two countries have also become a refuge for people who are seen as Erdogan's "personal enemies".

He expressed his opinion with Espreso.

"Erdogan is trading to fulfill his wishes and make his opinion heard, especially about the cooperation with candidate states, and the influence on the opposition movement," said Danilov.

Another reason for such Turkish leadership's behaviour on these countries' application to NATO is that Sweden and Finland have become a refuge for the President's so-called 'personal enemies.'

"These are people from the Gulen network, whom Erdogan accuses of organizing the uprisings," he said.

Also, Scandinavia emphasizes human rights which are violated in Turkey.

"The Turkish community in the Nordic countries actively opposes authoritarian practices, some of which are inherent to Erdogan," concluded the expert.