NATO chief: Turkey has ‘legitimate concerns’ over terrorism

By JARI TANNER
Associated Press

HELSINKI (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Turkey has “legitimate concerns” over terrorism and other issues that need to be taken seriously. Turkey has accused Finland and Sweden of supporting Kurdish militants and says it will not back the two Nordic nations joining NATO until they change their policies. Speaking Sunday at a joint news conference with the president of Finland, Stoltenberg stressed that “no other NATO ally has suffered more terrorist attacks than Turkey” and pointed to its strategic geographic location with neighbors like Iraq and Syria. After decades of military non-alignment, Russia’s war in Ukraine pushed Finland and Sweden to apply to join NATO in May.