Ankara can't approve Sweden and Finland's joining the North Atlantic Alliance as long as they "indulge terrorist organizations," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

His remarks came at a joint press conference after talks with his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro in Ankara.

"NATO is a security organization, not an organization that supports terrorism. As long as interviews with terrorist leaders are broadcast on Swedish state television, we cannot welcome that country to join NATO. The same applies to Finland," he said, according to the Anadolu news agency.

Nicolas Maduro, for his part, said that Turkey plays an extremely important role in the world from a geopolitical point of view.

The president of Venezuela arrived in Turkey on an official visit.