President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday called on the European Union to open the door for Türkiye’s accession into the bloc for Ankara to back Sweden’s membership in NATO. Erdoğan was speaking at Istanbul's Atatürk Airport before departing for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

"First, let’s pave the way for Türkiye in the EU, and then we will pave the way for Sweden just as we did for Finland," the president said. The president’s remarks were welcomed by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. At a news conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, ahead of the summit, the NATO chief said he supported Türkiye’s ambition to join the EU.

Türkiye has the longest history with the union and the longest negotiation process. The country signed an association agreement with the EU’s predecessor in 1964, the European Economic Community (EEC), which is usually regarded as a first step to eventually becoming a candidate. Applying for official candidacy in 1987, Türkiye had to wait until 1999 to be granted the status of a candidate country. For the start of the negotiations, however, Türkiye had to wait for another six years, until 2005, a uniquely long process compared with other candidates.

"Türkiye was kept waiting at the door of the European Union for more than 50 years while almost all NATO members are EU members," Erdoğan lamented. He said he conveyed Türkiye’s expectation from the EU during a phone call with U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday. "I will make the same statements in Vilnius. Our nation expects us to do so. It has been more than 50 years. We are not an ordinary country. They should know this," he said.

The Sabah newspaper reported on Monday that Türkiye was mulling reviving ties with the EU over the membership process, including a return to EU Reform Action Group meetings last held in 2019. The meetings seek to bring Türkiye more into compliance with the criteria set by the EU for membership. In the past two decades, Türkiye took major steps to ensure compliance with criteria though ties with the bloc have strained over the past years due to what Ankara views as a biased approach to the process by EU countries. So far, fulfillment of six out of 72 criteria remain outstanding, including compliance with the EU in counterterrorism, fight against corruption, cooperation with EU law enforcement agency Europol, extradition of criminals and judicial cooperation, protection of personal data and better implementation of readmission deal with EU over managing migration to EU countries via Türkiye.

An EU spokesperson said accession to the EU bloc and the military alliance are separate and cannot be linked. EU accession and NATO membership are "two separate processes," and the EU has a "very structured process of enlargement," Dana Spinant, European Commission deputy chief spokesperson, was quoted by Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday. The process of enlargement has "a very, very clear set of steps that need to be taken by all candidate countries," she told a news conference. She added: "You cannot link the two processes in regards to (the EU bid of) Turkey and next steps with regard to (NATO) enlargement."

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022. Finland has been a member of the alliance since April 2023. Türkiye has delayed its final approval of Sweden’s membership in NATO, as the country has been too lenient toward anti-Islam demonstrations as well as terrorist entities.

Sweden had already met the conditions required to join the 31-member alliance. "It is still possible to have a positive decision on Sweden in Vilnius," Stoltenberg told a news conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was among those commenting on the issue. "I hope that soon Sweden will be able to become a NATO member," Scholz said in Berlin during a visit by the Australian prime minister ahead of this week’s NATO summit. "This is what I’m taking as the positive message from the Turkish president’s comments."

Erdoğan reiterated that Sweden’s NATO membership is at the discretion of the Turkish Parliament. "We cannot have fait accompli on this issue. The parliament should ratify it," he said. Referring to some U.S. senators’ remarks on tying F-16 sales to Türkiye to Ankara’s approval of Sweden’s membership, Erdoğan said just as the sale of warplanes to Türkiye required congressional approval, ratification of the Swedish bid should be carried out by Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM). Erdoğan said the F-16 issue was brought up during his talks with Biden, adding that Biden told him that he was "doing his best" for the sale. He said linking the F-16 sale to the Swedish bid was "worrying." "They are different issues and I will convey this at the summit," he stated.

"At the summit, I will reiterate to our allies that they should swiftly reverse the error of imposing sanctions on Türkiye," Erdoğan said. He said the Vilnius summit would also discuss a new stage in counterterrorism efforts. "One of the most important aspects of the summit will be a renewal of commitment for a minimum 2% defense expenditure. Amid talks over increasing defense expenditures, we see sanctions put a brake on it. Sanctions and blocks imposed unfairly by certain of our allies restrain us. Our country almost reached a 2% level in 2019 defense spending, but it decreased to 1.3% now," he said.

The president stated that the summit came at a time when the war in Ukraine increasingly affected global stability and security. "At these critical times, we will exchange views on the defense and security of NATO geography and make important decisions. "We will review decisions made at the Madrid summit to reinforce deterring power and defense of the alliance and support the partners, particularly Ukraine. The first meeting of NATO’s Ukraine Council, established in support of NATO and allies for Ukraine, will also be held. We believe that ending the war as soon as possible with fair and permanent peace will further facilitate Ukraine’s NATO membership process," he said. Erdoğan said that they also anticipated agreeing upon an update of the alliance’s defense plans as discussed in the Madrid summit.

On NATO expansion, Erdoğan stated that Türkiye always supported NATO’s open-door policy. "When North Macedonia’s membership was stalled for 16 years just because of a dispute over its name, we always expressed our support with an open-door policy," Erdoğan highlighted. He said a road map was drafted after a trilateral memorandum signed last year in Madrid over the membership of Sweden and Finland.

"Finland acted in line with its commitment and officially joined the alliance in April. The process in Sweden continues. Relevant agencies in Türkiye are in touch with their Swedish counterparts in a transparent manner based on goodwill. I will attend a three-way meeting with Mr. Secretary-General (of NATO) and the Swedish Prime Minister this evening. Advancing Sweden’s NATO membership process depends on fulfilling commitments cited in the trilateral memorandum. We have always pointed out the necessity of fighting against terrorist groups and their supporters," he said.

Noting the latest killing of two soldiers in northern Iraq by the PKK terrorist group on Sunday, Erdoğan said, "Nobody can expect us to be understanding and make concessions while we have martyrs."

"We want the pledges to be fulfilled and we are resolute on this issue," he stated.

The president also said that Türkiye was among the first five members of NATO to contribute most to the alliance, providing it "serious force and capability through its high technological means on land, air and sea." He noted Türkiye continued counterterrorism efforts on NATO’s southern borders and beyond. "We also play a critical role in thwarting and managing irregular migration movements globally. At a time of escalated threats, we will reiterate the importance we attached to the alliance in Vilnius," he said.