The Swedish prime minister welcomed Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu's statement on his country's NATO bid talks, which was suspended by Türkiye due to the former's failure to abide by terms of a trilateral agreement.
"I of course welcome Turkey's announcement that they want to resume the discussions regarding the trilateral agreements that Sweden has with Türkiye and Finland," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference on Monday.
Earlier on Monday, Çavuşoğlu said the resumption of talks on Sweden's NATO bid depended on steps taken by the country.
"Sweden has given some positive messages. They have made changes in the law and constitution, but unfortunately, we clearly see that the PKK terrorist group's supporters continue various subversive activities, including financing terrorism, recruiting terrorists and disseminating terrorist propaganda," Çavuşoğlu said.
He noted that the terrorists aim to halt Sweden's NATO accession, but Sweden has the prerogative to prevent such activities.
The Turkish foreign minister also said President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sees Kristersson's good intentions and that his Swedish counterpart visited Ankara and saw the stance of all political parties at the Turkish Parliament.
"The faster Sweden takes steps to convince our Parliament and our people, we will reciprocate," he said, adding that all actors, including NATO, need to encourage Sweden to take positive steps to respond to Türkiye's concerns about terrorist groups. He also said Ankara would follow a different path for Finland's accession.
Türkiye has signaled it is ready to receive Finland into the alliance – but not Sweden.
A scandalous mid-January protest in Stockholm wherein an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was hanged by its feet in front of the city hall has particularly impaired negotiations, with a separate Quran burning session as the boiling point.
Türkiye summoned the Swedish ambassador and canceled a visit by Swedish Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlen and Defense Minister Pal Jonson to Ankara. Amid an outpouring of international denouncements, dozens of Turkish officials, including defense and foreign ministers and opposition party leaders, slammed Sweden for allowing the burning of Islam’s holy book by a far-right politician.
Sweden and neighboring Finland abandoned decades of non-alignment and applied to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All NATO members except Türkiye and Hungary have ratified their accession, but unanimity is required.
Ankara said Sweden must first take a more explicit stance against terrorists. Türkiye has frequently voiced that it does not oppose NATO enlargement but criticizes Stockholm for not taking action against elements posing a security threat to Ankara.
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 to gain NATO membership.
Ankara has long criticized Stockholm for housing members of various terrorist organizations, particularly members of the PKK and, in recent years, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) – the organization behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Türkiye.
Ahead of a historic NATO summit, the three countries signed a trilateral deal in June that prevented a Turkish veto. In the memorandum, the Nordic countries said they would address Türkiye’s extradition requests for terrorists. In addition, the joint directive states that Finland and Sweden “will not provide support to ... the organization described as 'FETÖ' and terrorist groups.”
