President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Türkiye expected Sweden to “fulfill the promises and guarantees” it made to Ankara for approval of its NATO membership.
Speaking to reporters on his way home from a three-day Gulf tour and a visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Friday, Erdoğan said Türkiye would closely follow the implementation of Sweden’s “pledges and guarantees” when the ratification process of its membership will be referred to the Turkish Parliament.
“We will take steps in accordance with steps they take. It will be in the favor of Sweden to take concrete steps for counterterrorism and the extradition of terrorists, the issues sensitive for Türkiye,” he said.
He also spoke about his earlier remarks ahead of the landmark Vilnius summit of NATO earlier this month where he said Türkiye expected the European Union to pave the way for Türkiye’s membership just as Türkiye paved the way for Sweden’s NATO membership.
“The EU membership of Türkiye, which has the second strongest army of NATO, will also energize and give extra power to the bloc,” he said.
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, abandoning policies of military non-alignment that had lasted through the Cold War. Their applications must be approved by all members of the alliance.
Having held up ratification of Sweden's NATO bid for more than a year, Erdoğan unexpectedly agreed after the alliance's summit in Lithuania this month to forward it to the Turkish parliament when the legislature reconvenes in October.
"The Turkish Parliament's working schedule will determine the process of Sweden's NATO membership (ratification)," Erdogan told reporters in Friday's statements.
Ankara accuses Stockholm of doing too little against terrorist groups, including the PKK and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). Both groups have a presence in Sweden, which only recently started taking concrete steps for the extradition of people linked to the PKK while fugitive members of FETÖ still reside in the Nordic country.
