Fidan, Stoltenberg discuss NATO enlargement

ANKARA

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg have discussed NATO’s plans to enlarge with Sweden during a phone conversation.

The two men exchanged views on global and regional matters as well as the issues on the agenda of the alliance. No detailed statement was made following the conversation.

The discussion comes two days before the reconvention of the Turkish parliament, which has the last word on the approval of Sweden’s joining NATO. Sweden, along with Finland, applied to enter NATO following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Türkiye approved Finland’s bid in early 2023 but delayed Sweden because of the continued activities of the anti-Türkiye terrorist organizations on its soil. In addition, the permission granted by the Swedish authorities for burning the Quran, Islam's holy book, in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm has brought additional obstacles.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson came to an agreement during a meeting on the sidelines of a NATO Summit in Vilnius in July, and the former promised that Türkiye will move forward with the ratification on the condition that the applicant country submits a road map on its fight against terror.

Erdoğan, in a statement earlier this week, stressed that the last word belongs to the Turkish parliament.