NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that he discussed the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and said, “We agreed to continue negotiations in Brussels and Madrid next week.” President Erdoğan also met with Swedish Prime Minister Andersson after Stoltenberg. During the meeting, issues regarding Sweden’s NATO membership request were discussed.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated on his Twitter account that he had a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Stoltenberg said, “I discussed with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan the applications of Finland and Sweden to NATO. We agreed to continue negotiations in Brussels and Madrid next week.”
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In a statement released after the meeting, President Erdoğan stressed to Stoltenberg that Sweden and Finland should take concrete and sincere steps against the terrorist organization PKK/PYD/YPG and commit to lifting embargoes and similar restrictions against Turkey in defense industry exports and that they will not resort to them in the future.
President Erdoğan also met with Swedish Prime Minister Andersson after Stoltenberg.
According to a statement released by the Presidency, following Stoltenberg, Erdoğan had a telephone conversation with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson. During the conversation, issues regarding Sweden’s NATO membership request were discussed.
President Erdoğan reiterated that Sweden should take steps on fundamental issues of importance for Turkey, such as the fight against terrorism.
Stating that Sweden should make a concrete change in its attitude towards the terrorist organization PKK/PYD/YPG, President Erdoğan stated that at this point, they have not seen any concrete initiative from Sweden to address Turkey’s concerns.
President Erdoğan emphasized that they expect Sweden to lift the arms embargo and legal and de facto restrictions on the defense industry sector, as well as to meet their extradition and deportation demands.
Erdoğan noted that they would like to see binding commitments on all these issues together with concrete and clear implementations.
