06 July 2023 at 16:43
Consultations between Sweden and Turkey did not lead to a breakthrough on Thursday. The Turkish blockade of Swedish NATO membership remains in place for the time being. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wants the two countries to continue talking at the annual NATO summit in Vilnius.
A new member must be approved by all NATO member states. Hungary is also opposed to Sweden’s accession, but the government of that country has already announced that it will follow Turkey in an agreement from Ankara.
“It is time for Sweden to join NATO,” Stoltenberg stressed at a press conference after the talks in Brussels.
Although the conversation did not result in Turkish consent, the countries did make progress, according to Stoltenberg. “Swedish membership is within reach.” He said that a new consultation between Turkey and Sweden will take place during the two-day NATO summit in Lithuania, which starts next Tuesday.
In the run-up to the talks in Brussels, the Turkish government had already left little hope that a deal would be reached before the summit. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Swedes should do “their homework” first.
Stoltenberg pointed out that the Swedish government has taken steps to accommodate Turkey. For example, Sweden lifted an embargo with Turkey and introduced stricter anti-terrorism legislation.
Kurds and alleged coup plotters
Turkey has two major objections to Swedish membership. Both have to do with the political policy of Sweden.
The Turkish government believes that the Scandinavian country is not acting hard enough against two groups: the Kurdish PKK, which has been waging an armed uprising against Turkey for 38 years, and the Gülen movement. He was involved in a coup attempt in 2016, according to Ankara.
Sweden extradited some PKK members, but refuses to hand over people with Swedish nationality to Turkey. The government recently introduced legislation that makes it easier to combat terrorist organisations.
Burn Qurans
Recent anti-Islam demonstrations in Sweden, during which Korans were burned, are also a thorn in the side of predominantly Muslim Turkey.
The Swedish government tried to ban the demonstrations by no longer giving them permits. A court overturned that policy in April. The government said on Thursday it is investigating whether burning Qurans could be made a criminal offence.
American F-16 on Turkish wish list
In addition to the Turkish criticism of Sweden, the relationship between Turkey and the United States may also play a role. The most influential NATO country strongly supports Swedish membership. Turkey, in turn, wants US permission to buy F-16 fighters to modernize the Turkish air force.
Although President Joe Biden wants to give that permission, the US Congress is opposed. There are, among other things, objections to the human rights situation in Turkey and the Turkish attitude towards Sweden.
2023-07-06 14:43:16
#Turkey #Sweden #agreed #Swedish #NATO #membership
