Türkiye, Sweden vow to expand ties amid NATO talks

ANKARA

Türkiye and Sweden have agreed to expand bilateral ties and increase the trade volume to $5 billion in the coming period as the latter is seeking the Turkish parliament’s approval to enter NATO.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson completed his two-day trip to Türkiye, his first visit to a non-European Union country since he came to power a couple of weeks ago. He met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and held a joint press conference following talks in the Turkish presidential compound late on Nov. 8.

The Swedish premier has informed that his delegation included some prominent Swedish businessmen in a sign that shows his government’s willingness to further improve the bilateral ties in all fields.

Stressing there is a huge potential waiting to be unleashed between Türkiye and Sweden, Kristersson said, “We can make a huge leap on trade. That’s why there are so many businessmen with us today. We can also do more on tourism and work together.”

The prime minister also underlined that the history of the bilateral ties between the two nations goes back centuries, emphasizing that his country’s admission to NATO will make two long-time friendly nations as well as allies.

He vowed that his country will take all the necessary actions for the fulfillment of the provisions of the trilateral memorandum of understanding signed by Türkiye, Sweden and Finland. The two Nordic states had applied for NATO membership in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with fears that the war may expand to their territories.

HH Trade volume should hit $5 billion

For his part, Erdoğan also underlined the importance of bilateral ties between the two countries. Recalling that Kristersson became the first Swedish prime minister to visit Ankara since 2009, Erdoğan said, “We want to improve our bilateral relations with Sweden, our strategic partner, in every area, from trade and defense industry to mutual investments and tourism. Our bilateral trade volume reached$ 3.7 billion last year and broke a record. Given our potential, we aim to increase this figure to $5 billion as soon as possible.”

Erdoğan underlined that it was remarkable to see that his guest was accompanied by representatives of the business world and that they discussed ways to improve the bilateral relationship.

On Sweden’s NATO membership, Erdoğan repeated Ankara’s endorsement of the alliance’s open door policy, saying, “In fact, it was in line with this approach of ours that we gave approval to the beginning of Sweden and Finland’s admission negotiations.”

Stressing that Türkiye is fighting against a number of terror organizations, including the PKK, its Syrian leg YPG, as well as the FETÖ, Erdoğan noted, “Sweden wants NATO membership for its own security, and we expect Sweden to support us in addressing our own security concerns.”

“We are pleased about the commitments the new Swedish government has made regarding the implementation of the trilateral memorandum. Likewise, the lifting of the restrictions imposed on our country in the defense industry and the beginning of export permissions are both positive steps,” Erdoğan added.