Global Courant
Turkey objects to Sweden’s bid to join the Western military alliance, claiming the country harbors “terrorists”.
Sweden must stop protests by supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Stockholm to get the green light for NATO membership, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told NATO’s secretary general.
Erdogan told Stoltenberg in a phone call on Sunday that Turkey had a constructive stance but that Sweden’s amendment of “terrorism laws” to meet Ankara’s demands was “pointless” as PKK supporters continued to protest in the country, it said Turkish presidency in a position.
Turkey has objected to Sweden’s bid to join the Western military alliance, citing security concerns, but members of the bloc and the NATO chief have expressed hope it will join in time for a mid-July summit in Vilnius.
Finland joined NATO in April, but Turkey continues to block Sweden’s membership. Last week, Erdogan said it should not expect the green light from Ankara at the Vilnius summit unless it prevents “anti-Turkey” protests.
New law not enough for Ankara
Ankara says Sweden harbors members of “terrorist” groups in the country, most notably belonging to the PKK, which has been designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
Sweden recently introduced a new law to make it more difficult to fund or support “terrorist groups”, which Ankara said was not convincing enough.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Wednesday that the Turkish parliament should begin ratifying Sweden’s bid, as Stockholm fulfilled its obligations under a deal with Ankara.
Sweden and Finland both ended decades of military nonalignment last year and applied to join NATO after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Erdogan and Stoltenberg also discussed the latest developments in Russia and Sweden’s NATO membership, according to the statement issued by the presidency’s communications directorate.
The parties pointed out that the end of tensions in Russia “prevented the occurrence of irrevocable humanitarian tragedies in the Ukrainian field,” the statement said.
