"Sweden should not expect a change of attitude from Ankara on its NATO candidacy unless it prevents the anti-Turkey protests in Stockholm," Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, according to Reuters. "Turkey cannot approach Sweden's NATO candidacy in a positive way as long as there are 'terrorists' protesting in Stockholm, he added.
Turkey is hosting high-level talks on Wednesday with top officials from Finland, Sweden and NATO, to allow Sweden to join the Atlantic Alliance. A union that Turkey has been opposing for more than a year, despite pressure from the other NATO members. These are the first talks they have held since the Turkish president secured re-election last month.
Last Sunday, the statements of the main adviser to the Turkish president, on the public channel TRT World, gave Sweden a shred of hope. Akif Cagatay Kilic said the Nordic country was "closer to NATO membership than it was a year ago" though disagreements remained to be dealt with.
However, it seems that neither the pressure exerted by the allies nor the concessions in Stockholm have been enough to convince the Turkish president to give the green light to Sweden's accession, at the next meeting to be held on July 11 and 12 in Vilnius. , Lithuania.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year, but Turkey has stymied the expansion process, accusing the two Nordic nations of not taking Turkey's security concerns seriously.
In April, Turkey allowed Finland to join NATO, but has so far refused to do the same with Sweden, accusing it of failing to meet its demands.
Pushed by Erdogan, Stockholm has extradited some people accused of crimes in Turkey - although fewer than Ankara required - and has amended its anti-terrorism legislation by extending prison sentences for individuals accused of participating in extremist organizations. A formulation within which is the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has many followers in Sweden but is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey.
"Sweden has fulfilled its obligations," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, adding that Stockholm had lifted its arms embargo on Turkey, strengthened its anti-terrorism legislation and amended its constitution.
Erdogan's critics accuse him of using Sweden's NATO membership, which must be approved by all members of the alliance, as a bargaining chip to further his domestic policy against the Kurds.
The last meeting between the three countries took place on March 9 in Brussels, after a diplomatic crisis between Sweden and Turkey, due to the burning of a Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
