NATO is in touch with Turkey to find a "united way" forward to address Ankara's concerns over Sweden and Finland's bid to join the pact, the bloc's Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday.
"When an ally, Turkey, rises concerns, then we have to do what we always do in NATO and that is to sit down, address those concerns and then find a united way forward," Stoltenberg told reporters at the White House after meeting President Joe Biden.
"That's exactly what we're doing now. We are in close contact with Ankara, with the political leadership there. I've spoken to President (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan and in also very close contact with Sweden and Finland," he said.
Stoltenberg will convene a meeting with senior officials from three nations ahead of a June 28 NATO summit.
In addition, he said Turkey should be recognized as "an important ally," which he said: "contributes to security in many different ways."
He cited Turkey's "strategic geographic location" bordering Iraq and Syria and its "key role" in the fight against the Daesh terror group.
