If EU embraces Turkey, Ankara to back Sweden’s NATO bid: Erdogan

Erdogan wants Sweden to crack down on groups that Ankara considers national security threats before Turkey agrees to its NATO membership[File: Umit Bektas/Reuters]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he would back Sweden’s NATO candidacy if the European Union resumes long-stalled membership talks with Ankara.

“First, open the way for Turkey’s membership in the European Union, and then we will open it for Sweden, just as we had opened it for Finland,” Erdogan said in a televised media appearance on Monday before departing for the NATO summit in Lithuania.