Turkiye won鈥檛 back Swedish NATO bid unless it stops anti-Turkish protests -Erdogan

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkiye won鈥檛 back Swedish NATO bid unless it stops anti-Turkish protests. (File/Reuters)
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  • Turkiye is pushing Sweden to ban and crack down on anti-Turkish rallies.

ANKARA: Sweden should not expect a green light from Ankara on its NATO membership bid at the Western alliance鈥檚 summit next month unless it prevents anti-Turkiye protests in Stockholm, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Turkiye cannot approach Sweden鈥檚 NATO bid positively while 鈥渢errorists鈥� were protesting in Stockholm, and Turkiye鈥檚 position would be made clear once again in talks with Swedish officials in Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters on a flight returning from Azerbaijan on Tuesday.
Erdogan spoke as officials from Turkiye, Sweden, Finland and NATO met on Wednesday in Ankara for talks to try to overcome Turkish objections holding up Sweden鈥檚 NATO membership bid.
Sweden鈥檚 chief negotiator Oscar Stenstrom said the talks with Turkish officials had been good and that discussions aimed at overcoming Ankara鈥檚 objections would continue, though no fresh date was yet set.
鈥淚t鈥檚 my job to persuade our counterpart that we have done enough. I think we have,鈥� Stenstrom said. 鈥淏ut Turkiye is not ready to make a decision yet and thinks that they need to have more answers to the questions they have.鈥�
In a statement, the Turkish presidency said the level of progress by Sweden under a trilateral deal agreed in Madrid last year was discussed in the meeting. The parties agreed to continue working on the 鈥減rospective concrete steps鈥� for Sweden鈥檚 NATO membership, the statement said.
In March, Turkiye ratified Finland鈥檚 bid for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, following Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine, but still objects to Sweden joining the alliance, as does Hungary.
In justifying its objections to Swedish membership, Turkiye has accused Stockholm of harboring members of Kurdish militant groups it considers to be terrorists.
Sweden says it has upheld its part of a deal struck with Turkiye in Madrid aimed at addressing Ankara鈥檚 security concerns, including bringing in a new anti-terrorism law this month. It says it follows national and international law on extraditions.
Turkish-Swedish tensions were most recently fueled by an anti-Turkiye and anti-NATO protest in Stockholm last month, when the flag of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, outlawed in Turkiye as well as in the European Union, was projected on to the parliament building.
Commenting on Sweden鈥檚 recent legal changes Erdogan said: 鈥淭his is not only a matter of a law amendment or a constitutional change. What is the job of the police there? They have legal and constitutional rights, they should exercise their rights. The police should prevent these (protests).鈥�
While he was having talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg earlier this month, a similar protest was held in Stockholm, Erdogan said. He added that he also told Stoltenberg Sweden should prevent such actions to secure Turkiye鈥檚 approval for its NATO membership.
After meeting Erdogan, Stoltenberg said a deal on Sweden joining the alliance could be reached before the NATO summit in Vilnius next month.