Türkiye calls on Sweden to take 'concrete steps' for NATO bid

ANKARA

Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz has called on Sweden to take further "concrete measures" against terrorism to secure Ankara's support for its NATO bid.

“Türkiye doesn’t see a satisfactory level of implementation” of an agreement last year in which Sweden vowed tougher action against extremist organizations, Yılmaz told the Financial Times in an interview on Oct. 1.

While President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had initially agreed to Sweden's request to join NATO at the alliance's Vilnius summit in July, the Turkish parliament, which reconvened after a summer recess, still needs to ratify Sweden's accession.

Stockholm shifted its longstanding policy of neutrality after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. Despite approval from all NATO members except Türkiye and Hungary, Sweden's bid remains in limbo.

Erdoğan has consistently stated that Türkiye's support for Sweden's NATO bid is contingent upon Sweden taking effective measures against the PKK and FETÖ, the group behind the 2016 coup attempt.

Yılmaz emphasized the sensitivity of these issues in the Turkish parliament and stated, "If we don’t see enough progress in practice, then the parliament will be under great pressure."

The vice president further clarified that parliament's approval would depend on the "real concrete steps taken against the terrorist groups or individuals that work openly against Türkiye."

Sweden contends that it has fulfilled its agreement with Türkiye, citing a new anti-terrorism law enacted in June. Under this legislation, a Swedish court sentenced a Turkish man to jail in July for funding the PKK, marking the first use of the new law.

However, demonstrations displaying PKK flags and incidents where protesters publicly burned copies of the holy Quran in Sweden have drawn sharp criticism from Ankara in recent months.