Turkey's Erdogan links Sweden, Finland NATO bid to return of 'terrorists'

FILE PHOTO: Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan holds a news conference during the NATO summit at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium June 14, 2021. REUTERS/Yves Herman/Pool

ANKARA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday Sweden should not expect Turkey to approve its NATO bid without returning "terrorists", and Swedish and Finnish delegations should not come to Turkey to convince it to back their membership in the alliance.

U.S. President Joe Biden and top officials from his administration repeated that they are confident Ankara's objection will not be a roadblock for the accession process of the Nordic countries, even though they did not spell out how Turkey's position could be changed.