NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Sunday as the former aimed to push for Sweden’s membership in the alliance.
"Türkiye has legitimate security concerns. No other NATO ally has faced more terrorist attacks, but Sweden has taken significant concrete steps to meet Türkiye’s concerns," Stoltenberg said at a news conference after the closed-door meeting at Dolmabahçe Palace in Istanbul.
He recalled the amendments to the Swedish Constitution that took effect days ago that tightened response to terrorist groups, as well as the lifting of its arms embargo on Türkiye.
Referring to the recent PKK-affiliated protests in Stockholm, Stoltenberg said: "Freedom of assembly and expression are core values in democratic societies. But we should remember why these are taking place."
"Organizers of these demonstrations want to block Sweden’s accession to NATO and undermine its collaboration with Türkiye against terrorism and weaken NATO," Stoltenberg emphasized. "We should not allow them to succeed."
NATO chief also said he and Erdoğan had agreed the joint permanent mechanism Türkiye established with Sweden and Finland at the Madrid summit last year should reconvene in the week of June 12.
"The mechanism is vital in the fight against terrorism," Stoltenberg remarked.
"Membership will make Sweden, as well as NATO and Türkiye, stronger. I’m looking forward to the completion of Sweden’s membership process," he added.
As for whether such a thing was possible by the next NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius on July 11-12, Stoltenberg reiterated that it was "high time to make that happen" and argued Sweden had become "much closer" to NATO since the last summit where allies, including Türkiye, invited the country into the bloc.
Stockholm’s accession has been delayed due to objections from member countries Türkiye and Hungary. However, the United States and NATO want to see Sweden join before the summit in Vilnius.
In a historic turnaround, Sweden and Finland abandoned their longstanding policies of military non-alliance and applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.
But recent provocative demonstrations by terrorist sympathizers and Islamophobic figures in Stockholm have led Turkish leaders to question Sweden’s commitment to take the steps necessary for NATO membership and continuing terror-affiliated and anti-Türkiye protests risk endangering Sweden’s NATO bid further.
Ankara ratified Finland’s membership in March, enabling it to become a full member of the defense alliance.
Ankara said Sweden must first take a more explicit stance against terrorists. Türkiye has frequently voiced that it does not oppose NATO expansion but criticizes Stockholm for not taking action against elements that pose a security threat to Ankara.
Terrorist propaganda, as well as the burning of Islam’s holy book outside Türkiye’s Embassy in Stockholm in January, which sparked anger in the Islamic world, leading to weeks of protests, and calls for a boycott of Swedish goods, have contributed to Sweden’s long-spun process.
Kosovo tensions
Stoltenberg also remarked on the ongoing tensions in Kosovo where the country’s ethnic Serbians have been protesting the election of ethnic Albanian mayors since late May. Last Monday, at least 30 soldiers of the NATO-led international peacekeeping mission Kosovo Force (KFOR) were injured in clashes with Serbs trying to block an ethnic Albanian mayor from entering the town hall to take his oath of office and start his duties.
Stoltenberg "strongly condemned unprovoked attacks" against KFOR troops and assured, "KFOR and NATO will take all necessary actions to maintain safe and secure environment for all citizens in Kosovo."
He welcomed Türkiye’s decision to provide additional forces to the KFOR presence in Kosovo and further informed the security bloc would deploy 700 troops from NATO operational reserves and that Türkiye would oversee this process.
Stoltenberg concluded by calling on Pristina and Belgrade to de-escalate the situation, refrain from irresponsible behavior and engage in the EU-facilitated dialogue, "which is the only path to peace."