Right before he left for Lithuania to attend a critical meeting of NATO leaders, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signalled that Ankara may approve Sweden’s accession to the alliance. He still had reservations and conditions but in the end, a trilateral meeting between Erdoğan, the NATO chief and Swedish prime minister on the sidelines of the NATO summit on Monday helped Sweden win Türkiye’s approval.
Erdoğan has made it clear to Sweden that Türkiye still had grievances about rallies by the supporters of the terrorist group PKK in Sweden and provocations involving the burning of the Quran in Sweden. The president gave the message that the Turkish nation, “a conservative, nationalist” public, should be convinced of whether Sweden was sincere in fulfilling its pledges to Türkiye after those incidents.
During the meeting, Erdoğan also highlighted that it was up to the Turkish Parliament to approve Sweden’s NATO membership. In response, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Erdoğan that they would not let the PKK, YPG or Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) hold Sweden hostage amid the membership process.
Following the meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that Erdoğan has agreed to send Sweden’s NATO accession protocol to the Turkish Parliament “as soon as possible,” without specifying a date. "I'm glad to announce that President Erdoğan has agreed to forward the Accession Protocol for Sweden to the Grand National Assembly as soon as possible and work closely with the assembly to ensure ratification," Stoltenberg said. "Sweden agreed today, as an EU member, also to support actively the efforts to reinvigorate Türkiye's EU accession process, and also to help to modernize the EU-Türkiye Customs Union and visa liberalization," he said.
The trilateral meeting agreed to work toward eliminating sanctions and removing obstacles in defense trade and investments among allies. Stockholm reassured Türkiye that it would not support terrorist organizations PKK/YPG and FETÖ in the aftermath of its NATO membership and that a new bilateral security mechanism will be created between Ankara and Stockholm. NATO will also establish a Special Coordinator on Counterterrorism for the first time in the bloc's history, Stoltenberg said.
Türkiye has delayed its final approval to Sweden’s membership in NATO, accusing the country of being too lenient toward anti-Islamic demonstrations as well as terrorist entities.
The first draft of the meeting’s declaration simply referred to a memorandum signed in last year’s Madrid meeting on Sweden’s membership without elaborating but Erdoğan insisted on “seeing determination in the fight against PKK and FETÖ” and thus, the declaration after the Vilnius meeting included a clear stance against the terrorist groups.
Commenting on Türkiye's approval of NATO membership, Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson on Tuesday said that his country is "decisive" in the fight against terrorism and organized crime. "We are here for the long term and we are decisive in the fight against terrorism and organized crime," Kristersson said, referring to some of Türkiye's top concerns in giving Sweden a green light for membership in the NATO military alliance. "I think Sweden has a lot to bring to the table as well," he said, speaking in Vilnius. Saying that "very important" decision-making steps were made on Tuesday on Sweden's NATO membership bid, he said that he expects the ratification process to be completed "as soon as possible," like NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
"So I am happy with the result and look forward to the final ratifications," he added. Stressing that his country, a European Union member since 1995, favors close ties between the EU and Türkiye, the premier said, listing longstanding issues between Türkiye and the bloc: "Now we are promoting closing economic bonds, modernization of the customs union, providing better visa regulations, and so forth." "During the fall of this year we will restart talks about how to regain cooperation with Türkiye," he said, and added: "It's good."
"Sweden agreed today, as an EU member, also to actively support the efforts to reinvigorate Türkiye's EU accession process, and also to help modernize the EU-Türkiye Customs Union and visa liberalization," Kristersson added, listing more sticking points between Türkiye and the bloc.
Earlier, Erdoğan said the Turkish people expect steps forward from the EU as Türkiye does its part with Sweden's NATO accession. Sweden's cooperation with Türkiye in the fight against terrorism is also set to continue beyond its accession, as announced on Monday, as both countries agreed to establish a new bilateral security compact, including a new special counterterrorism coordinator for "stepping up its work in this area." Sweden and Finland decided to seek NATO membership after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022. While Finland gained membership this April, Türkiye said Sweden would need to address its security concerns – particularly over terrorism – before getting its green light.
New members of NATO must get unanimous agreement from all the current members. Türkiye has been a NATO member for over 70 years and boasts its second-largest army.
