Turkey still does not want to approve Sweden’s NATO membership, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavusoglu said on Thursday. Turkey appreciates the steps taken so far by Sweden, but has “much more to do”.
Among other things, the minister regrets that Stockholm has not yet extradited to Turkey people who, according to Ankara, are linked to terrorism. The bank accounts and other assets of these people have not yet been frozen.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling for the extradition of dozens of people as a condition for Sweden’s application to join NATO to be approved.
Çavusoglu spoke at a joint press conference with his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billström in Ankara. Billström said Stockholm had taken concrete steps to fully comply with the counter-terrorism deals signed by Sweden and Finland with Turkey in June.
For example, the Swedish government promised last month to distance itself from the Syrian-Kurdish YPG militia to welcome Turkey. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organization and an extension of the Turkish-Kurdish PKK. This organization is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.
Sweden has applied for NATO membership due to the war in Ukraine, as has Finland. The military alliance is made up of thirty countries, which must unanimously accept the accession of new members.
Only Turkey has not yet accepted the accession of Sweden and Finland. Hungary is the only other country that has not yet ratified its approval, but is expected to do so in early 2023.
