Türkiye can't approve Sweden's NATO bid if Stockholm doesn't fulfill pledges

By Merve Aydogan

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye on Monday reminded the pledges of Sweden and Finland for their NATO accession bids, saying it is impossible to approve Sweden's bid "without seeing steps taken."

"With regards to the membership of Finland and Sweden, the position of Türkiye is clear and transparent," said Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in a joint news conference with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who arrived in Ankara for solidarity visit following the earthquakes that occurred on Feb. 6.

Reminding that terrorism is one of the two main threats for NATO, Cavusoglu said Türkiye expects two Nordic countries to meet Ankara's concerns regarding fight against terrorism.

Since the signing of the trilateral memorandum in NATO Madrid Summit in June 2022, Cavusoglu said "there has not been any satisfying steps taken by Sweden."

"There are pledges (by Sweden and Finland) to NATO membership. It is not possible for us to say 'yes' to Sweden's NATO membership without seeing these steps," he said.

He also said the NATO bids of the two Nordic countries can be assessed separately, as Türkiye is more positive towards Finland's process.

Cavusoglu reminded of the mechanism established among Türkiye, Sweden, and Finland, and said it is beneficial for 3rd meeting of mechanism to be held in Brussels.