Türkiye and Sweden agreed to hold more discussions on Stockholm's NATO membership, following a quadrilateral meeting held in Ankara on Wednesday, according to a statement by the Presidential Communications Directorate.
The meeting over Sweden’s prospective membership to NATO ended on an ambiguous note for the Nordic country. Stockholm has long hoped that the meeting would be the final stage, ahead of a NATO summit, for progress on the membership which needs the approval of Türkiye and Hungary.
The statement said in a statement that sides discussed Sweden’s steps to fulfill its commitments on a trilateral memorandum signed earlier. “The progress on commitments is assessed at the meeting and the participants agreed upon taking subsequent concrete steps,” the statement said.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Sweden should not expect much from the upcoming NATO summit in July.
He said Türkiye cannot approve pro-PKK rallies in the Nordic country. “We cannot have a positive approach (to Sweden’s NATO accession) under the current circumstances. NATO cannot force us to admit Sweden without acting against terrorism. Unless you resolve this issue, we cannot merrily approve Sweden’s membership in Vilnius,” he said, referring to the upcoming NATO summit where Sweden hopes Türkiye will approve its membership bid.
