During a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the February 6 earthquakes in southern Türkiye constitute the deadliest natural disaster on alliance territory since NATO was founded.

Stoltenberg also said that the time is now to ratify both Finland's and Sweden's applications for NATO membership, as both countries await Türkiye's approval.

On Sweden, Finland's NATO bids, Cavusoglu urged addressing Türkiye's concerns not just on paper but in actions as well.