UPDATES WITH BEGINNING OF MEETING, REVISES HEADLINE, LEDE
By Muhammed Enes Calli and Omer Tugrul Cam
ISTANBUL / BRUSSELS (AA) - The fifth meeting of a permanent joint mechanism between Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden on Sweden's NATO bid began in the Belgian capital Brussels on Thursday.
The meeting is hosted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and attended by delegations from Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden.
The Turkish delegation includes Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Intelligence Organization head Ibrahim Kalin, Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar, and Akif Cagatay Kilic, the chief adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The meeting is expected to review the steps taken by Finland and Sweden, particularly in fighting terrorism based on the trilateral agreement, since the previous meeting was held in Ankara on June 14.
The meeting comes before the NATO leaders convene a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 11-12.
Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership soon after Russia launched a war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Although Türkiye approved Finland's membership to NATO, it is waiting for Sweden to abide by a trilateral memorandum signed in June 2022 in Madrid to address Ankara's security concerns.
Sweden passed an anti-terror law in November, hoping that Ankara would approve Stockholm's bid to join NATO. The new law, effective as of June 1, allows authorities to prosecute individuals who support terrorist groups.