Türkiye cannot approve Sweden’s NATO membership bid while it’s still embracing terrorists, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Friday, effectively squashing any hopes of Ankara’s ratification before the NATO summit next week.
“How can Türkiye trust a country where terrorists are running wild? How can a nation that fails to distance itself from terrorism contribute to NATO?” Erdoğan mused as he addressed a military graduation ceremony in Istanbul, a day after foreign ministers from Türkiye, Sweden, Finland and NATO Secretary-General met in Brussels.
“How can a nation that cannot fight terrorism fight the enemies of the alliance?” he declared.
NATO and Western allies have been pressuring Ankara to ratify Stockholm’s bid before the summit in Vilnius this Tuesday, but Erdoğan has been resolute and recent anti-Türkiye and anti-Islam demonstrations in Sweden have further drawn his ire.
Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership soon after Russia launched a war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Although Türkiye approved Finland's membership, it is waiting for Sweden to abide by a trilateral memorandum signed last June in Madrid to address Ankara's security concerns about terrorism and terror groups like PKK and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
“We have displayed our principal stance by ratifying Finland’s membership but we have not shied away from showing our reaction to those failing to take the necessary measures in the war on terror,” Erdoğan said.
He further underscored that there was “no reasonable justification for embracing murderers who have attempted to stage a coup and murdered thousands of our citizens for 40 years.”
“We want (Sweden) to adhere to the promises they made to us in Madrid,” Erdoğan said and reiterated that Türkiye’s only issue was with terrorists.
“We will bring up all these points with all our allies at the next NATO summit. We will do whatever is best for our country, nation and our security,” the president said.
Erdoğan is due to hold one-on-one talks with Swedish Premier Ulf Kristersson as well as U.S. President Joe Biden next week ahead of the NATO meeting.
Following Thursday’s meeting of the joint mechanism, NATO chief Stoltenberg and Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström praised “progress” but Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan remained unimpressed, stressing, "Sweden has taken steps in terms of legislative changes, but legislative changes need to be reflected in practice."
Hours before the talks, Sweden jailed a Turkish citizen for "attempted terrorist financing" for the PKK under new legislation promising tighter crackdowns on terrorist groups.
