Stoltenberg: For Turkey to accept Sweden's NATO accession issues need to be resolved

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said there are "gaps" between Turkey and Sweden that need to be bridged in order to gain Ankara's approval for Stockholm's' accession to the military alliance. 

Speaking on Friday at a news conference ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's next week summit in Lithuania’s capital city Vilnius, Stoltenberg said he would meet with Swedish and Turkish leaders on Monday to make another attempt to resolve the issue of Sweden's NATO accession.

He also said that when NATO leaders meet on Tuesday in Vilnius member states will once more discuss ways to expedite Ukraine's NATO accession.

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In the meantime, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he is "concerned for the future of the alliance".

Erdogan insisted that a country where terrorists roam freely in its streets was untrustworthy, referring to Stockholm's perceived lax attitude to PKK militants living in the Nordic country.

He refused calls from NATO allies to quickly ratify Sweden’s membership in the military alliance, saying, “Those who advise us should answer the following questions frankly: How can Turkey trust a country where terrorists roam its streets?” Erdogan told military officers at a ceremony in Istanbul without elaborating.

“How can a state that does not distance itself from terrorist organizations contribute to NATO? How can those who do not fight terrorism fight the enemies of the alliance?” he asked. 

“We expect the promises made to our country in Madrid to be fulfilled,” Erdogan said, adding that Turkey was supporting NATO’s expansion and has approved Finland’s membership.

“We will bring all these issues to the attention of our alliance partners again at the leaders’ summit in Vilnius on Tuesday.”

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Henry Kissinger has said the NATO membership offer to Ukraine was a "grave mistake" that led to the war of the combined West against Russia.

Turkey wants Sweden to extradite or expel alleged supporters of the Kurdish militant group PKK, which is labeled a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union, as well as of affiliated Kurdish YPG forces in Syria and followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan alleges Gulen masterminded a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.

“Those who say, ‘Let’s show solidarity under the roof of NATO,’ cannot have any reasonable justification for embracing the murderers who attempted a coup in Turkey and killed thousands of our people over the past 40 years,” Erdogan said referring to the 2016 coup attempt and the PKK militants’ ongoing terrorists attacks since 1984.

Erdogan has also said that his country cannot ratify Sweden's NATO application before the Qur'an burning is stopped, referring to last week's public burning of a copy of the holy book in Sweden.

In the meantime, Sweden has lifted a ban on arms sales to Turkey and amended its anti-terrorism laws as part of a deal clinched last year to break the impasse. In Sweden’s view, the new legal measures satisfy its last remaining obligation under an agreement signed at NATO’s Madrid summit to pave the way for ratification.

In regard to the Qur'an burning by the Iraqi immigrant, Sweden's minister of justice said on Thursday that the government is analyzing the situation and whether its laws in regard to Qur'an burning need to be changed to allow the police to deny such requests.

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"We have to ask ourselves whether the current order is good or whether there is reason to reconsider it," Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told Aftonbladet paper.

In related news, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called on Erdogan to ratify Sweden's NATO accession.

Sunak said that he hoped NATO could proceed with ratifying Sweden's accession to the alliance as soon as possible, pointing out the "significant benefits" of the country's membership.

In a phone call with Erdogan, the Prime Minister "underlined the significant benefits of Sweden joining NATO and the progress they have made in addressing Turkey's legitimate security concerns and hoped the alliance could proceed with ratifying their accession as soon as possible," Sunak's spokesperson said on Friday.

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