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Erdogan Says Turkey Will Not Change Approach to Sweden's NATO Membership at July Summit
Erdogan Says Turkey Will Not Change Approach to Sweden's NATO Membership at July Summit
Sputnik International
Turkey should not be expected to change its approach to Sweden's NATO membership bid ahead of the alliance's summit in Lithuania unless Stockholm fulfills its obligations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.
2023-06-14T13:58+0000
2023-06-14T13:58+0000
2023-06-14T13:58+0000
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"This NATO summit will take place in Vilnius. I hope I will take part in it, unless an extraordinary situation arises. These expectations of Sweden do not mean that we will meet these expectations. In order for us to meet these expectations, first of all, Sweden must fulfill its obligations," Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from Azerbaijan. Sweden's obligations, as laid out by Erdogan to Stoltenberg during their meeting in Istanbul, is to "destroy the activities of this terrorist organization," the Turkish leader said, meaning the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Ankara has designated a terrorist organization. Erdogan said his chief adviser Akif Cogatay Kilic was scheduled to hold the fourth meeting of the Permanent Joint Mechanism on Wednesday where he would convey the message to the delegations of Sweden, Finland and NATO. On June 4, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Erdogan at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul and said after the negotiations that Sweden had fulfilled all its obligations to join NATO. The NATO summit will take place from July 11-12 in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, with Stoltenberg as its chairman. Sweden, together with Finland, submitted applications for NATO membership in May 2022, citing changing security environment in Europe on the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis. On March 31, Finland's application was ratified by all 30 members of the alliance. Sweden's bid is still pending approval by Hungary and Turkey. The latter vetoed it after a controversial Quran-burning demonstration in Stockholm on top of prior accusations of Sweden's support of PKK members.
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Erdogan Says Turkey Will Not Change Approach to Sweden's NATO Membership at July Summit
ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkey should not be expected to change its approach to Sweden's NATO membership bid ahead of the alliance's summit in Lithuania unless Stockholm fulfills its obligations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.
"This
NATO summit will take place in Vilnius. I hope I will take part in it, unless an extraordinary situation arises. These expectations of Sweden do not mean that we will meet these expectations. In order for us to meet these expectations, first of all, Sweden must fulfill its obligations," Erdogan told reporters on a return flight from Azerbaijan.
Sweden's obligations, as laid out by Erdogan to Stoltenberg during their meeting in Istanbul, is to "destroy the activities of this terrorist organization," the Turkish leader said, meaning the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Ankara has designated a terrorist organization.
"While Stoltenberg was saying these words to us, unfortunately, terrorist demonstrations were taking place on the streets of Sweden at that very moment," Erdogan said, adding that Turkey "cannot approach this issue positively in such a situation."
Erdogan said his chief adviser Akif Cogatay Kilic was scheduled to hold the fourth meeting of the Permanent Joint Mechanism on Wednesday where he would convey the message to the delegations of Sweden, Finland and NATO.
"He will convey the following message to them: 'This is the opinion of our President, definitely do not expect something completely different in Vilnius,'" Erdogan said.
On June 4, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Erdogan at Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul and said after the negotiations that Sweden had fulfilled all its obligations to join NATO.
The NATO summit will take place from July 11-12 in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, with Stoltenberg as its chairman.
Sweden, together with Finland, submitted applications for
NATO membership in May 2022, citing changing security environment in Europe on the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis. On March 31, Finland's application was ratified by all 30 members of the alliance. Sweden's bid is still pending approval by Hungary and Turkey. The latter vetoed it after a controversial Quran-burning demonstration in Stockholm on top of prior accusations of Sweden's support of PKK members.
