Turkiye urges Sweden to fulfill all commitments before joining NATO
Europe, Middle East, News December 24, 2022 1 Comment on Turkiye urges Sweden to fulfill all commitments before joining NATOTurkiye has shown its reservations about Sweden’s progress in fulfilling the requirements that had been agreed upon by both sides before the country agreed to Sweden’s accession into the NATO alliance.
Turkiye’s foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met with his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom in Ankara on December 22, 2022. The two foreign ministers spoke about Sweden and Finland’s accession to the NATO alliance. In a post-meeting news briefing, Cavusoglu said that Sweden must do more before his country approves its bid to join NATO.
He further stated that Turkiye appreciates Sweden’s steps so far as it seeks approval to join NATO but it is not even halfway through the fulfillment of commitments that it made to secure Ankara’s support for its membership. He pointed out that a Swedish court’s decision not to extradite a man wanted by Turkiye for alleged links to a failed 2016 coup had “poisoned” a positive atmosphere in negotiations on Sweden’s membership in the military alliance.
Earlier this week, Sweden’s Supreme Court ruled against the extradition of a former newspaper editor, Bulent Kenes, to Turkiye. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the move “a very negative development.” Turkiye has accused Kenes of being involved in a 2016 coup attempt against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
While speaking at the news conference in Ankara with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, Cavusoglu also pointed out the lag in another commitment made by Sweden. He said that Turkish defense companies have also been unable to procure some equipment from Sweden despite the lifting of a weapons ban.
Turkiye signed a memorandum of understanding with Sweden and Finland in June 2022. Under the deal, the two countries agreed to address Turkiye’s security concerns, including requests for the deportation and extradition of Kurdish fighters and members of organizations that Turkiye deems as terrorists. Sweden and Finland also committed to lifting the ban on arms sales to Turkiye.
To become part of the NATO alliance, Sweden and Finland need unanimous approval from all existing 30 members of the alliance. So far, 28 out of 30 members have approved Finland and Sweden’s accession into the alliance. Hungary and Turkiye have shown their reservations about the accession of the two countries into NATO.
The trilateral negotiations between Turkiye, Finland, and Sweden went on for weeks before Turkiye agreed on conditional accession to go through. The representatives from the three countries met in Brussels several times to address Ankara’s opposition before the annual NATO leaders’ summit in Madrid.
During the NATO leaders’ summit in Madrid, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the three sides as Turkiye agreed to approve the accession if Finland and Sweden follow through with the commitments made in the memorandum.
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[…] Sweden’s anti-terrorism to which Sweden agreed. However, Turkey has shown its reservations about Sweden’s progress in fulfilling the requirements that had been agreed upon by both sides before Ankara agreed to Stockholm’s accession into the […]