Sweden and Finland must deport or extradite up to 130 "terrorists" to Turkey before Turkey's parliament approves their applications to join NATO, President Tayyip Erdogan has said, Reuters reports.

Sweden is seeking Turkey's approval to join NATO. Ankara said Sweden needs to take a clearer stance on those it considers "terrorists," mainly Kurds and supporters of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkish authorities accuse of an attempted coup in 2016.

"We said look, so if you don't hand over your terrorists to us, we can't pass it (approval of the NATO application) through the parliament anyway," Erdogan said in comments late on Sunday, referring to a joint press conference he held with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson last November.

"For this to pass the parliament, first of all you have to hand more than 100, around 130 of these terrorists to us," Erdogan said.

Sweden and Finland signed a trilateral agreement with Turkey in June 2022 aimed at overcoming Turkey's objections.

As part of the agreement, the two Nordic countries pledged to promptly and carefully consider "pending Turkish requests to deport or extradite terror suspects.

Erdogan's spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, said Turkey's parliament has little time to ratify the requests before presidential and parliamentary elections, which are expected in May.

On Monday, Kristersson said his country was in a "good position" to get Turkey to ratify its bid for NATO membership.