Daily Sabah
February 20, 2023

Swedish PM welcomes Türkiye’s message on NATO bid resumption

The Swedish prime minister welcomed Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu’s statement on his country’s NATO bid talks, which was suspended by Türkiye due to the former’s failure to abide by terms of a trilateral agreement.

“I of course welcome Turkey’s announcement that they want to resume the discussions regarding the trilateral agreements that Sweden has with Türkiye and Finland,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, Çavuşoğlu said the resumption of talks on Sweden’s NATO bid depended on steps taken by the country.

“Sweden has given some positive messages. They have made changes in the law and constitution, but unfortunately, we clearly see that the PKK terrorist group’s supporters continue various subversive activities…,” Çavuşoğlu said.

He noted that the terrorists aim to halt Sweden’s NATO accession, but Sweden has the prerogative to prevent such activities.

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“The faster Sweden takes steps to convince our Parliament and our people, we will reciprocate,” he said, adding that all actors, including NATO, need to encourage Sweden to take positive steps to respond to Türkiye’s concerns….He also said Ankara would follow a different path for Finland’s accession.

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Ahead of a historic NATO summit, the three countries signed a trilateral deal in June that prevented a Turkish veto. In the memorandum, the Nordic countries said they would address Türkiye’s extradition requests….