Turkiye does not intend to lift its objections to Sweden’s membership in NATO at a meeting between the two sides planned for this week, US media is reporting.
According to an American business journal, Turkiye is “unlikely to signal it’s ready to approve Sweden’s bid to join NATO” in the near-term due to Stockholm’s permissive attitude towards a group of Kurdish separatists known as the PKK, which Ankara accuses of terrorism.
On Wednesday, Turkish representatives are set to meet with their counterparts from Sweden and Finland for talks outlined at a NATO summit in Madrid last summer.
Citing “people familiar with the matter,” the US-based outlet wrote that “Ankara still wants Sweden to do more to comply with its conditions to sign off on its membership in time for a summit of the military alliance’s leaders next month.”
Those presumably-Turkish sources reportedly “stressed Sweden’s full compliance with the agreement is key for the expansion process to move forward.”
In a joint news conference with his Polish counterpart Monday, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom attempted to assuage Turkish concerns, claiming: “we condemn all terrorist organizations, including the PKK, which carry out attacks.”
Billstrom insisted “Sweden is ready to be an active and loyal ally from day one and contribute to the security of all allies,” adding that the country is “ready to contribute to the strengthened presence of NATO in the Baltic Sea region, air patrols, and other collaborations for national security.”
With these concerns seemingly in mind, the Swedish government reportedly agreed Monday to hand over a convicted Turkish drug dealer who Ankara accuses of maintaining connections to the outlawed PKK group.
Several European foreign ministers have expressed hope that Turkiye would green-light Sweden’s NATO membership before the alliance meets for its next summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius from July 11 to 12. But for Ankara, it’s unclear whether enough progress has been made yet to allow Stockholm’s bid to move forward.