World News | Erdogan says Turkey’s stance on Sweden’s NATO membership remains unchanged

ANKARA, June 14 (AP) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said NATO should not bet on his country approving Sweden’s bid to join the Western military alliance ahead of a July summit, Because the Nordic countries have not fully resolved his security issues.

Sweden, along with Finland, applied to join after Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April after Turkey’s parliament approved its request, but Turkey delayed approving Sweden’s application.

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NATO hopes to include Sweden when leaders of the member states meet for a summit in the Lithuanian capital on July 11-12.

On Tuesday, Erdogan told reporters on his way back from a state visit to Azerbaijan that Turkey was not “positive” about joining.

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Erdogan’s comments were reported by Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency and other media as senior officials from NATO, Sweden, Finland and Turkey met in Ankara on Wednesday.

Officials plan to discuss what Finland and Sweden are doing to address Turkey’s concerns about a suspected terrorist group.

Erdogan said the Turkish delegation attending the meeting “will convey the message: this is our president’s opinion and don’t expect anything different” in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

The Turkish government has accused Sweden of being too lenient with groups Ankara considers a security threat, including radical Kurdish groups and people linked to a failed 2016 coup.

A series of independence demonstrations in Stockholm, including a protest in which an anti-Islam activist burned a Koran outside the Turkish embassy, ​​also angered Turkish officials.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christensen called the Ankara meeting “very important” in a speech to the Swedish parliament. Christsen reiterated that his government had followed through on what it promised last year in a deal aimed at securing Turkey’s ratification of the country’s membership in NATO.

However, Erdogan is still not satisfied. He said he told NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg last week, “If you want us to respond to Sweden’s expectations, first of all, Sweden must destroy what this terrorist group is doing.” PKK), the group that waged a separatist insurgency in Turkey.

Erdogan said his talks with Stoltenberg in Istanbul coincided with a pro-Kurdish and anti-NATO rally in Stockholm.

NATO’s expansion requires the unanimous consent of all existing members, and Turkey and Hungary are the only countries that have yet to ratify Sweden’s request to join. Erdogan said he planned to attend the July summit in Lithuania unless “exceptional” circumstances arise.

After meeting with Stoltenberg on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said it was time to “welcome Sweden” to the alliance, arguing that Stockholm had “an important and I think very appropriate accession process to address the appropriate concerns of other allies”

“We are of course all looking forward to welcoming Sweden as a member of the alliance as soon as possible,” Stoltenberg said.

Since applying to join NATO more than a year ago, Sweden has amended its constitution and strengthened its anti-terrorism laws. This week, the Swedish government also decided to extradite a Turkish citizen living in Sweden who was convicted of drug offenses in Turkey in 2013.

It was not immediately clear whether the man, who has not been identified, is one of the main people Turkey is seeking to extradite.

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership after Russia invaded Ukraine, abandoning a decades-old policy of nonalignment. (Associated Press)

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