Turkey has put forward demands of Sweden, without which it will not support its accession to NATO/Bloomberg
Turkey has made public demands without which it will not support Sweden's entry into NATO. In particular, it should stop supporting the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Fethullah Gülen Movement, which Ankara considers terrorist.
The official statement says that Turkey, in accordance with the principle of NATO's collective security, expects concrete assurances from Sweden, “supporting terrorist organizations.” Previously, the country demanded the extradition of members of the PKK and RFG, but has not yet received an affirmative answer.
Turkey put forward demands from Sweden, without which it will not support its entry into NATO< /h2>
The Communications Department under the Office of the President of Turkey stressed that since 2017 Turkey has demanded the extradition of the terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Fethullah Gülen Movement. However, Sweden has not yet done so.
The country is demanding that the Swedish authorities cease political support for the PKK and RFG. At the same time, Sweden “accepts at the ministerial level members of the terrorist organizations that Turkey is fighting against and supports their activities within the country.” Turkey also demands to stop funding the activities of the PKK.
The Swedish government, which has applied for NATO membership, has announced its decision to allocate $367 million in support of the PKK by 2023, which threatens the national security of Alliance member Turkey, the statement said.
Sweden also sent weapons to the PKK , including anti-tank and unmanned aircraft. However, they were captured during the counter-terrorist operations carried out by the Turkish authorities.
In addition, the statement recalled that the Swedish government decided to impose an arms embargo against Turkey. This happened after Operation Spring of Peace, which Turkey launched in 2019 “to exercise its rights arising from international law in the Eastern Mediterranean.” The statement said that thanks to this operation, the country achieved the security of its borders.
“Turkey expects the support of all NATO member states in its legitimate rights based on international law and in the fight against terrorism for decades, and that the practice of embargoes is contrary to the spirit of the alliance,” the statement said.
Turkey expects Alliance members and candidate countries to cooperate at a high level both in the fight against terrorism and in all other areas. Therefore, Sweden, which applied for membership, must take “fundamental steps and provide concrete security guarantees to Turkey.” The country is currently awaiting concrete assurances from the Swedish government in accordance with NATO's collective security principle.
