New Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will pay an official two-day visit to Türkiye starting Monday, upon the invitation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström reiterated Sunday that the Scandinavian country has no agenda to be in contact with the PKK terrorist group's Syrian branch YPG.
According to the statement made by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, all aspects of Türkiye-Sweden relations will be reviewed at the official meetings to be held in the capital Ankara on Tuesday.
During the meetings, it is also envisaged to exchange views on Sweden's application for membership to NATO, Türkiye-European Union relations and global and regional issues on the basis of the Tripartite Memorandum signed with strategic partner Sweden at the margin of the NATO Madrid Summit.
Speaking to the Swedish media ahead of the visit, Billström said that the NATO talks with Türkiye went better than the previous Social Democrat government and the process proceeded more smoothly.
"We do not have an agenda in the form of contact with the PKK and YPG. This is also noted by the Turkish government. It is out of the question for the government that currently governs Sweden to enter into any agreement with those sympathetic to the PKK/YPG," he underlined.
"PKK is a terrorist organization and this type of behavior does not belong in a democracy," he wrote on Twitter.
In an interview with public broadcaster SR, Billstrom said, "As organizations such as the YPG and PYD have links with the PKK, which is on the EU's terror list, we will distance ourselves from these organizations in order not to spoil our relations with Türkiye."
Kristersson also said that Sweden could not cooperate with those who have close relations with the PKK terrorist organization.
"As part of our decision, we will firmly oppose any activity that raises or supports terrorism on Swedish territory," Kristersson told Swedish TV channel TV4.
Former Justice Minister Morgan Johansson described the new government's decision to distance itself from the PKK/YPG terror group as "worrying and heinous."
Underlining that the government took the decision without presenting it to parliament, Johansson argued that the decision was unacceptable.
Earlier this year, three other left-wing members of parliament posed with PKK rags.
Sweden's then-Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that the actions by the politicians were extremely inappropriate.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the European Union and the United States, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The Swedish state has classified the PKK as a terrorist group since 1984.
Finland and Sweden applied for membership of the world’s biggest security alliance in the months after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February. In doing so, they abandoned longstanding policies of military nonalignment out of concern that Russian President Vladimir Putin might target them next.
However, Türkiye, a powerful NATO member for over 70 years, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the two countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups. Sweden and Finland struck a deal with Türkiye in June, and President Erdoğan has warned Türkiye will not give the nod to their memberships until Ankara’s concerns are addressed.
The trilateral agreement stipulates that Sweden and Finland will not provide support to the YPG, the PKK’s Syrian offshoot, and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Türkiye. The deal also said Ankara extends full support to Sweden and Finland against threats to their national security. The Nordic countries have both agreed to address Ankara’s pending deportation or extradition requests for terror suspects.
Türkiye also has called for the lifting of an arms embargo imposed following its 2019 operation into northern Syria to combat PKK-linked YPG militants. Sweden last month said it would lift the embargo, a step seen as aiming to secure Ankara’s approval.
All 30 NATO member countries must officially ratify the accession protocol for Finland and Sweden to join the alliance. Only the Parliaments of Türkiye and Hungary have yet to do so.
Most recently, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg visited Türkiye last week for a three-day visit.
Stoltenberg welcomed Türkiye's decision to extend an invitation to Finland and Sweden to join the alliance at the Madrid Summit on June 29.
"Türkiye, Finland and Sweden agreed to a joint memorandum and now we have seen that Finland and Sweden have implemented their strengthened legislation on counterterrorism," Stoltenberg said.
He also praised the decision by Finland and Sweden to lift all restrictions on arms and weapons export to Türkiye.
"They're also committed very clearly to continuing to implement because they have formed a permanent mechanism structure where Türkiye and Finland will meet to exchange information, work together on counterterrorism or many other things," Stoltenberg said.
"I think the time has come to finalize the accession process and ratify the accession protocols which are signed in June," the NATO chief added.
Stoltenberg also met with Erdoğan on Friday. On Finland and Sweden, Erdoğan said their actions would determine the pace and time of the process to ratify their accession to the alliance.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also told Stoltenberg that the schedule for accepting them as new members would depend on when Türkiye’s demands, agreed upon in the joint memorandum, were fulfilled. The 10-article memorandum was unveiled ahead of a NATO summit in June after Türkiye had warned for weeks to veto Sweden and Finland’s applications.
"These two countries must take important steps on combating terror because one of the biggest threats NATO is facing today is terrorism," the Turkish minister said.
"It’s not possible to say right now that the two countries have completely implemented all aspects of the memorandum," he added while stressing that Türkiye supports NATO’s enlargement.
Çavuşoğlu said Türkiye sees the new government in Sweden as "more determined" to fulfill the memorandum signed in Madrid.
Çavuşoğlu acknowledged Sweden had changed laws and welcomed the lifting of the arms embargo as "an important step." But he warned the changes must be permanent and Sweden must not reverse any steps once it secures NATO membership.
"We should show our nation and the Parliament that these countries (Sweden and Finland) have taken concrete steps to address our concerns," Çavuşoğlu said.
Türkiye, he said, is aware of the positive steps taken by both Nordic countries.
"Our intent is not to harm NATO or prevent NATO's enlargement. The secretary general knows very well that Türkiye has been one of the most steadfast supporters of NATO's enlargement at all summits. We've been very clear about NATO enlargement and our support for it," he said.
He urged Sweden and Finland to take especially concrete steps in the fight against terrorism as "it is also one of the top priorities of NATO."