Erdoğan links Sweden’s NATO bid to Turkey’s EU accession

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has linked Ankara’s approval of Sweden’s NATO bid to his country’s efforts to enter the European Union, a fresh blow to Stockholm’s bid to join the military alliance.

“I call on those who have made Turkey wait at the door of the European Union for more than 50 years, pave the way for Turkey and we will pave the way for Sweden,” Erdoğan said at a press conference on Monday. ” An important NATO summit in Lithuania.

Washington and European capitals are pressing Ankara to approve Sweden’s NATO joining ahead of the summit after the Nordic country broke generations of neutrality following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year .

Sweden has made several concessions in an attempt to woo Ankara, including passing a new anti-terrorism law.

But Erdoğan has insisted that Stockholm take other steps, including curbing public demonstrations by supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organization by jurisdictions such as the European Union, the US and Britain, as well as by Turkey. classified into. ,

The unexpected demand comes as Erdoğan is scheduled to meet Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christerson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday afternoon ahead of a NATO summit.

The Turkish President is also scheduled to meet with EU Council President Charles Michel ahead of the NATO gathering in Vilnius.

EU officials acknowledged surprise at the timing of Erdoğan’s comments, but said the demand was in line with the Turkish leader’s high-wire diplomatic blackmail over the 2015 migration crisis. “Erdoğan is moving forward,” said an EU official on condition of anonymity. “It’s a bit much.”

Stoltenberg said Sweden’s membership could still be approved this week, despite Erdoğan’s latest demand. The NATO secretary-general said he supports Ankara’s bid to join the European Union, while stressing that Stockholm has already met the conditions needed to join the 31-member alliance.

Stoltenberg said at a press conference on Monday, “The terms we agreed upon in Madrid (last year) were a specific list of conditions that Sweden would have to meet in order to become a full member of the alliance and Sweden has conditions have been met.” It is still possible to have a positive decision on Sweden in Vilnius.

NATO requires all current members to approve applicants to join the Western alliance. The only other roadblock to Sweden’s application is Hungary, but analysts say Budapest could follow Ankara.

Stockholm’s decision last month to allow Koran burning in a protest outside a mosque at the start of an important Muslim holiday has also severely raised tensions between Ankara and Stockholm. A former senior Turkish diplomat described the Quran burning as “very stupid” and said he doubted that Ankara would immediately agree to the annexation of Sweden.

Turkey’s move to link Sweden’s NATO request with Turkey’s long-stalled effort to join the European Union presents another obstacle.

Turkey’s president said on Monday he would push Turkey to restart EU accession talks and get the US Congress to approve the purchase of F-16 fighter jets worth billions of dollars.

The Biden administration has been supportive of Turkey’s request to buy the plane, but analysts expect Turkey to approve Sweden’s NATO bid to unlock the deal.

Turkey launched its bid to join the European Economic Community in 1987, and 12 years later it was declared eligible for potential EU membership. But relations have deteriorated as Erdoğan, entering his third decade as Turkey’s leader, has slid towards an autocracy.

After nationwide protests in 2013 and an attempted coup three years later, Erdoğan curtailed civil liberties and carried out major purges in the judiciary, military, government institutions and academia. The European Parliament voted to suspend Turkey’s EU accession talks in 2019.

Turkey’s move to pull out of a landmark European treaty aimed at preventing violence against women in 2021, known as the Istanbul Convention, also sparked deep nervousness in the European Union.

Additional reporting by Funza Guler in Ankara