Türkiye is preparing to host the head of NATO and the new Swedish prime minister in the following days to evaluate the ratification of Finland and Sweden's possible NATO memberships.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will visit Türkiye on Nov. 4 for talks on Finland and Sweden's nearly completed process to join the military alliance.
Stoltenberg is due to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has warned that his country will not approve the two countries' memberships until "the promises they made are kept."
Ankara has accused Helsinki and Stockholm in particular of providing shelter to outlawed PKK-linked terrorists.
In June, Türkiye, Sweden and Finland struck a deal that included provisions on extraditions and sharing of information.
The two Nordic nations earlier this year ditched their longstanding policies of nonalignment, asking to join NATO because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and how it reshaped Europe's security.
Stoltenberg on Wednesday announced plans to visit Türkiye while praising the "close contact" Stockholm and Helsinki now had with Ankara "at all levels."
He said: "I will go to ... Istanbul to meet with President Erdoğan in the near future myself."
Erdoğan has also accepted a request from Sweden's new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to visit Türkiye as Stockholm struggles to overcome Ankara's blocking of its NATO bid.
A Turkish official, who wished to remain anonymous, said the visit was likely to take place on Nov. 8.
A spokesperson for Kristersson could not confirm the date. "We're working on it," she said.
Erdoğan said during a telephone call with the Swedish premier last week that Türkiye "stands ready to advance the bilateral relations with the Swedish government in all areas."
Kristersson described the call as "constructive," adding on Twitter that he was "looking forward to visit Ankara soon," without providing any details.
Erdoğan meanwhile said he would be "happy to welcome Kristersson in Ankara," according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.
Türkiye "stands ready to advance the bilateral relations with the Swedish government in all areas," it added in English.
NATO accession is a priority for Sweden's new right-wing government.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden and neighboring Finland tore up their longstanding policies of military nonalignment and asked to join the U.S.-led military alliance. The move has strong backing from most of NATO's members.
On Wednesday, Kristersson also reiterated that his government would fulfill the "trilateral memorandum" between Sweden, Finland and Türkiye.
The memorandum refers to a deal signed by the three states in late June in which Türkiye would allow the formal invitation to go forward if certain conditions were met. The text confirmed that Stockholm and Helsinki consider the PKK to be a "terrorist" organization. The Nordic nations also pledged not to support various groups which Ankara designates as "terrorists," including the PKK's Syrian branch, the YPG.
Under the deal with Türkiye, Sweden and Finland also agreed to address Ankara's requests for "terror suspects" to be deported or extradited.
Kristersson had announced he was ready to travel to Ankara to meet Erdoğan, who had swiftly agreed to receive him, but warned that the Turkish Parliament would not ratify the two Nordic countries' accession to NATO unless they honored its extradition demands.
"President Erdoğan stressed that it would be of common benefit to prevent Sweden's bilateral relations with (Türkiye) and its membership to NATO from being taken hostage by terrorist organizations," the presidency said.
Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom on Tuesday said that Stockholm would deliver on promises made but stressed this had to be done in "a legally safe way... in line with the constitution."
In August, Stockholm authorized the first extradition to Türkiye since the Madrid accord was reached but that case concerned fraud and not "terrorism."
In late September, Swedish authorities lifted a ban on military exports to Türkiye, meeting another one of Ankara's demands.
To date, 28 of the 30 NATO member states have ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland. Only Hungary and Türkiye remain, but new members to the alliance require unanimous approval.
Finland and Sweden will join NATO at the same time, their prime ministers also said on Friday, presenting a united front to Türkiye which has raised questions about both their applications.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Friday that Erdoğan had told her he had more questions for Sweden than for her country. But she said she would not leave Sweden behind in the process.
"It is very important for us, of course, that Finland and Sweden would join NATO hand in hand," Marin told reporters at a joint press conference in Helsinki with her Swedish counterpart.
Erdoğan said as recently as Oct. 6 that his country still opposed Sweden's bid.
Kristersson, who took office last week, said: "We have been taking every step, so far, hand in hand and none of us have any other ambition."
He said he would meet Erdoğan soon. "It's completely legitimate that Türkiye gets confirmation that Sweden is doing what Sweden has committed to do within the framework of the agreement," he added.
Sweden is fully committed to meeting the terms of the tripartite deal struck in Madrid aimed at overcoming Türkiye's objections to Stockholm's bid to join the NATO alliance along with Finland, Kristersson said.
"We have to do our part of it, and we are doing our part of it," Kristersson told reporters after meeting his Finnish counterpart in Helsinki.
"We are working very hard to fulfill what Sweden is supposed to do and we will report in detail what we have achieved."
