NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, said at a press conference held after the meeting that Sweden had fulfilled the conditions necessary to join NATO:
“Türkiye expresses justified security concerns. Sweden has taken significant and firm steps to accommodate Turkey.”
In Sweden there are leaders of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, who received political asylum in this country. The Turkish side considers these people terrorists and insists on their extradition. This was, in particular, one of the reasons why Turkey has not yet approved Sweden's entry into NATO.
Earlier, Sweden announced that all the requirements set by the Turkish authorities had been met, but noted that the issue of extradition of specific persons would be decided in court. At the beginning of the year, anti-NATO demonstrations took place in that country, during which Kurdish flags were hoisted to protesters.
Stoltenberg said that these speeches were aimed at undermining cooperation between NATO and Turkey in the fight against terrorism and blocking Sweden's entry into the alliance. According to him, on June 12, representatives of Sweden, Finland and Turkey will meet to once again discuss the issue of Sweden's accession to NATO.
Finland, along with Sweden, applied to join NATO after the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Sweden's entry is hampered by Turkey, which demands that Stockholm extradite Kurdish refugees and Turkish oppositionists. Finland became the official 31st member of the North Atlantic Alliance on April 4, 2023.