Türkiye, Sweden to hold security mechanism meeting in Ankara

By Muhammet Tarhan and Esra Tekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – Türkiye and Sweden will hold a security mechanism meeting on Wednesday, said Turkish diplomatic sources on Tuesday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Swedish counterpart Maria Malmer Stenergard will attend the meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara. For Stenergard, who was recently appointed, it will be her first trip abroad in her new post.

The meeting, the first of its kind, has great importance in terms of enhancing bilateral cooperation on terrorism.

Cooperation in security, primarily focusing on counter-terrorism, is expected to be addressed within the framework of a roadmap during the meeting.

In this context, additional steps, particularly concerning the terrorist group PKK and its Syrian offshoots the PYD/YPG as well as the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) – the group behind a defeated 2016 coup bid in Türkiye – are also being targeted.

In addition, bilateral issues as well as regional and global developments are set to be discussed during Fidan’s meeting with Stenergard.

At NATO’s 2023 Vilnius Summit, when Sweden was still seeking membership in the alliance, a meeting was held with the participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, during which it was decided that ahead of Sweden's possible membership, a security mechanism would be established at the ministerial level between Ankara and Stockholm.

It was agreed that Sweden would present a roadmap for full implementation of the commitments in a tripartite memorandum signed in June 2022, based on Sweden's fight against all forms and manifestations of terrorism.

- Tripartite memorandum

In May 2022, just months after Russia launched its war on Ukraine, Sweden and Finland officially applied for NATO membership.

During NATO's Madrid summit that June, a tripartite memorandum was signed between Türkiye, Sweden, and Finland covering their commitments in the areas of counter-terrorism and the defense industry.

Under the memorandum, Sweden and Finland committed to strengthening their counter-terrorism legislation, preventing activities of the terrorist PKK and its affiliates in these countries, not supporting FETO or the PYD/YPG, promptly processing Türkiye’s requests for extradition and deportation related to terrorism, preventing and banning propaganda, financing, and recruitment activities of terrorist groups, and lifting restrictions on defense industry exports to Türkiye.

In this context, Sweden passed revised legislation on terrorism in July 2022. It made amendments to the Swedish Constitution to limit "engagement with terrorist organizations" and support for terrorist groups.

The updated law came into force in June 2023, criminalizing participation in terrorist groups.

Sweden appointed a liaison prosecutor to ensure coordination on cases and issues related to Türkiye, and the bank account of the so-called Kurdish Red Crescent, a major funding source for the PKK in Sweden, was closed.

Before the memorandum, representatives of the PKK and its Syrian offshoots the PYD/YPG/SDF were accepted even at ministerial levels in Sweden and frequently visited.

However, the Swedish government declared its intention to distance itself from PYD/YPG due to its connection with the PKK.

In addition, judicial processes were initiated in Sweden against some PKK members, and Swedish security agencies' annual assessment reports in February 2024 referred to PKK financing and propaganda activities.

- Bilateral ties

This year marks the 100th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Türkiye and Sweden.

Sweden is Türkiye’s largest trading partner among the Nordic countries.

The trade volume between the two countries was at $4.1 billion in 2023, with a mutual goal of increasing it to $5 billion.

Following Sweden's NATO membership application in May 2022, the dialogue process gained momentum, and Sweden joined NATO as its 32nd member on March 7, 2024.

During this process, counter-terrorism and defense industry cooperation were included as areas for development.