Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022 but their bids were blocked by Turkey which demanded that the Nordic countries declare Kurdish organizations as terroristic as well as extradite individuals accused of terrorism or having participated in the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016
Counter-terrorism cooperation with Turkey is a key condition for Ankara’s approval of Sweden’s bid for NATO membership, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Tuesday after a meeting with his Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billstrom on the sidelines of a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels.
“Reiterated our expectations for Sweden’s NATO accession to FM Tobias Billstrom. Effective cooperation against terrorism is a must,” he wrote on his Twitter account.
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022 but their bids were blocked by Turkey which demanded that the Nordic countries declare Kurdish organizations as terroristic as well as extradite individuals accused of terrorism or having participated in the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks with his Finnish counterpart, Sauli Niinisto, the then Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andresson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Madrid on June 28, 2022, ahead of a NATO summit. The talks yielded a roadmap for Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO. On March 31, the Turkish parliament ratified a protocol on Finland’s joining the alliance, which came into effect on April 1.
A large scandal flared up between Turkey and Sweden in early 2023 after a copy of the Quran was burned in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. Erdogan said back then that Stockholm could hardly count on Ankara’s support for its NATO bid after such anti-Turkish actions.
Source: Tass