Sweden can become a NATO member like Finland if it fulfills its pledges to Türkiye, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said Saturday.
Meeting reporters in Brussels after the NATO defense ministers meeting, Güler expressed support for the military alliance’s “open door” policy.
Güler also noted they conveyed Türkiye’s views on the agenda items firsthand during the meeting.
“We expressed our sensitivity in the fight against terrorism, as in every environment. We underlined that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations should be fought without discrimination. We emphasized our determination to fight against all terrorist organizations, including PKK/YPG/PYD, FETÖ, Daesh, and al-Qaida. We expect full support from all our allies in this regard.”
A trilateral memorandum at a NATO summit signed among the countries in June last year stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the YPG/PYD, the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, or the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) — the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Wednesday said Sweden should do more to assuage Türkiye’s concerns about terrorism before Ankara approves its NATO bid.
Türkiye and Sweden agreed to hold more discussions on Stockholm’s NATO membership, following the quadrilateral meeting in Ankara earlier this week, according to a statement by the Presidency’s Directorate of Communications.
The meeting over Sweden’s prospective membership in NATO ended on an ambiguous note for the Nordic country. Stockholm has long hoped that the meeting would be the final stage, ahead of the Vilnius summit, for progress on the membership, which needs the approval of Türkiye and Hungary.
Güler said preparations for the upcoming NATO summit were discussed during the meeting in Brussels.
NATO leaders will meet in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, on July 11-12. Allies are expected to support Ukraine for the long haul and strengthen deterrence and defense.
“We once again expressed our support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty, including Crimea,” Güler said.
“We also emphasized the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities and the establishment of a cease-fire to prevent further destruction and humanitarian tragedy, and we emphasized the importance of diplomacy and we are ready to do our part in these matters and humanitarian aid, just as we have done so far.”
Güler stated that within the framework of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by Türkiye to solve the global food crisis, approximately 32 million tons of grain were transported from Ukrainian ports to international markets by nearly a thousand ships.
He emphasized the importance of the swift, secure, planned continuation of grain shipments.
Güler also highlighted the second meeting session at NATO headquarters and discussed the efforts to strengthen the alliance’s deterrence and defense posture in the current security environment.
He said: “In this context, we recalled that after the events in Kosovo, our country, which has historical and cultural ties with the Balkans, quickly deployed an additional reserve battalion to contribute to peace, tranquility and stability in the region. We detailed our contributions to NATO’s command and force structure, operations and missions, and land, sea, air, and space efforts.”
