Sweden may not win Turkey’s support to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization next month as the country’s new anti-terror law is failing to crack down on Kurdish militants, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
“Sweden’s expectations don’t mean we’ll meet them,” Erdogan told Turkish media. “Sweden must first of all eradicate what this terrorist organization is doing. In this picture, we can’t have a positive approach.”
Erdogan’s remarks suggest his reluctance to approve Sweden’s membership to NATO will continue beyond the alliance’s upcoming summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, next month. That will extend the Nordic country’s period of limbo since looking to join the group alongside neighboring Finland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Finland was approved to join in April. NATO allies are urging Erdogan to allow Sweden to follow suit, with all members needed to agree on newcomers. The Kurdish issue remains a sticking point, with Turkey long having fought separatist militants from the ethnic group in its own country.
Sweden insists that it’s in compliance with an agreement hammered out at NATO’s summit in Madrid a year ago, which allowed the expansion process to move forward.
Representatives of Turkey, Sweden and Finland met Wednesday in Ankara to discuss the issue. The head of the Swedish delegation, Oscar Stenstrom, said after the meeting he insisted his nation has “fundamentally changed” how it tackles the Kurdish PKK group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union.
“The fight against PKK has intensified, which has given concrete results,” Stenstrom told reporters at a press briefing. “We clearly see that the fight against terrorism is a part of NATO’s work.”
The parties have agreed to continue talks, he added, but no date has been set for future meetings.
A new anti-terrorism law went into force in Sweden on June 1 this year, but Erdogan criticized the country for not yet using it to prevent or disperse anti-Turkey protests. He encouraged the country’s security forces to step in, ensuring a more effective crackdown.
Stenstrom said that while the new legislation doesn’t make it illegal to express sympathy for extremists, such expressions can be used as evidence to prove that a suspect has provided assistance to terrorist groups.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels that “some progress has been made” and work will continue to ensure ratification for Sweden “as soon as possible.” He added, however: “I am not in a position to give any exact timelines or guarantees.” Stoltenberg reiterated he had told Erdogan that “Sweden has delivered.”
NATO allies see Sweden’s accession clinching NATO’s control of the Baltic Sea and give the alliance the upper hand in the Arctic region — both strategic gateways for Russia — even as Moscow is bogged down in its invasion of Ukraine.
Bringing Sweden into the fold would simplify defense planning for the alliance. NATO would benefit not just from Sweden’s combat aircraft, naval prowess and other military assets but also be able to easily shuttle troops or equipment across Nordic territory.
Erdogan’s unrelenting stance on Sweden’s NATO bid signaled that he is not willing to balance his approach with getting US congressional support for Turkey’s purchase of American-made F-16 fighter jets.
Hungary is the other holdout, but is expected to back Sweden’s membership as soon as Turkey signals it plans to do so, as the country did with Finland’s application.
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(With assistance from Natalia Ojewska, Natalia Drozdiak and Niclas Rolander.)
