Türkiye to consider Sweden’s NATO bid after terror laws take effect

ANKARA

Türkiye will consider paving the way for the NATO membership of Sweden after the Nordic country adopts its anti-terror law in June, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın told reporters.

Announcing the book “Presidential Policy Committees Activities and Goals,” Kalın said the next tripartite meeting of Finland, Sweden and Türkiye will be held in June.

“We are planning the next joint mechanism meeting in June, again with the participation of Finland. The tripartite mechanism will continue after Finland’s accession,” he said.

“The more effectively the anti-terror law, which will come into force on June 1, is implemented, the faster the process will progress,” he said for the case of Sweden.

Following the ratification of the Turkish Parliament, Finland officially joined the alliance on April 4, but Türkiye is hesitant about Sweden’s membership.

Ankara says Sweden should take more concrete steps in terms of fighting anti-Türkiye terror on its soil in order to be admitted to NATO.

Türkiye, Sweden and Finland established a mechanism after a memorandum was signed in late June last year when the Nordic states pledged to support Türkiye’s fight against terrorism and agreed to address Ankara’s pending deportation or extradition requests for “terror” suspects. The mechanism is the venue to assess the progress made in meeting Türkiye’s concerns.