We do not view Finland and Sweden's NATO membership positively. - Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

There exists an unmistakable demand in the Middle East and in the wider Muslim world for democratization.

What women need is to be able to be equivalent, rather than equal. Because equality turns the victim into an oppressor and vice versa.

Furthermore, Turkey stresses that all forms of arms embargoes—such as the one Sweden has imposed on my country—are incompatible with the spirit of military partnership under the NATO umbrella. Such restrictions not only undermine our national security but also damage NATO’s own identity. Sweden’s and Finland’s uncompromising insistence on joining the alliance has added an unnecessary item to NATO’s agenda.