Sweden will continue talks with Turkey over the country's NATO bid, the Swedish prime minister has said.
"I would say this is an ongoing dialogue," Magdalena Andersson told Sweden's official news agency TT on Tuesday.
Asked if she would visit the Turkish capital Ankara to have a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the issue, Andersson said, "We will do what is right in the process."
Andersson also said on Wednesday the Nordic country would continue its dialogue with Turkey over Ankara's objections concerning its application to join the NATO military alliance.
"I'm looking forward to constructive meetings with Turkey in the near future," she told a news conference with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
"Our responses to demands and also questions from Turkey we will take directly with Turkey and also sort out any issues and misunderstandings that there might be."
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO on May 18, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24.
But Turkey, a longstanding member of the alliance, has voiced objections to their membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups such as the PKK, its Syrian branch YPG and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). The accession requires unanimous approval from all 30 NATO member states.
Last week, Turkey hosted consultations with Swedish and Finnish delegations on their NATO applications in Ankara. Erdoğan said the meetings had not been "at the desired level."
Amid Sweden and Finland's NATO bids, Turkey on Tuesday emphasized that these two countries need to make amendments to their counterterrorism laws.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said there are certain conditions that both countries must fulfill.
"Prior to the Ukraine war, we have always supported NATO's expansion at all foreign ministers' meetings. Similarly, we supported this policy in the case of countries such as (North) Macedonia and Montenegro, but now we are abstaining due to support given to terrorism by the two countries that want to become members of NATO," he said.
He added that Turkey maintains dialogue with Sweden and Finland in line with Erdoğan's directives.
Citing the consultation meeting held between the delegations of Turkey, Sweden and Finland, Çavuşoğlu said that Ankara handed them a letter clearly stating its expectations from the two countries aiming to join the military alliance.
"Even at a time when consultations are ongoing, these terrorist groups are demonstrating against Turkey with their rags. These activities of the terrorist organization, which is on the (terror) lists of the EU and NATO, are allowed. On the other hand, FETÖ is active in these countries," he added.
Çavuşoğlu also recalled Sweden and Finland's sanctions on arms exports and defense industry products to Turkey, which were imposed after Ankara launched operations against YPG/PKK terrorists in northern Syria. Sweden and Finland need to understand Turkey's security concerns, he stressed.
Emphasizing that these two countries need to make amendments to their counterterrorism laws, he stressed that Turkey's position will not change unless amendments are made.
"We have given the documents in written form (to Sweden and Finland). Governments may change, and other governments may later come and say, 'We did not know about this.' After becoming a member, their attitudes may change. That's why we gave everything in written form. We want it in written form," he said.
Adding that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg frequently voices the need to meet Turkey's security concerns, Çavuşoğlu further said that the alliance head offered a trilateral meeting of foreign ministers with the participation of NATO.
Ankara has said Sweden and Finland must halt their support for the PKK and other groups, bar them from organizing any events on their territory, extradite those sought by Turkey on terrorism charges, support Ankara's military and counterterrorism operations, and lift all arms exports restrictions.
Finland and Sweden have sought to negotiate a solution and other NATO capitals have said they remain confident that the objections raised by Turkey – which has NATO's second-biggest military – can be overcome.
