In ti
me for the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, Ankara might grant Sweden’s request to join the alliance, according to Monday’s remarks by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
“I had a conversation with the Swedish foreign minister on Friday. I informed him of our decision regarding Finland so that he would hear it from us first. <…> I said, “It all depends on you,” when he expressed hope that the NATO accession procedure would be finished by the alliance’s summit “said Cavusoglu.
In May 2022, Finland and Sweden submitted applications to join NATO. Turkey, however, objected, demanding that the Nordic nations designate Kurdish organizations as terrorist organizations and extradite any individuals charged with terrorism or having taken part in the failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016.
Helsinki, according to Ankara, is usually in line with the conditions of the pertinent agreement, whereas Stockholm has provided the Turkish side substantial reasons for complaint. As Sweden has broken its agreements under the treaty, Turkey believes that it is not yet prepared to join NATO.
Last Friday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared that Ankara was prepared to ratify Finland’s NATO membership application. The Turkish parliament has been given the opportunity to evaluate the pertinent protocol. This week is predicted to see the approval of Finland’s request.
