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Erdogan says will discuss Sweden’s NATO membership bid with partners at NATO summit

Ankara criticized Stockholm for pandering to supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party

ANKARA, July 7. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that he plans to discuss problems around Sweden’s membership in NATO with his partners during the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius.

"Those who are giving us advice should first answer these questions frankly: how can Turkey trust a country where terrorists are walking around freely? How can a state which doesn’t distance itself from terrorist organizations make any contribution to NATO? We expect that the promises that were made to our country in Madrid will be fulfilled. We will again draw the attention of our partners in the alliance to these questions at the summit in Vilnius on Tuesday. Whatever the best solution for our country, our people and our defense might be, we will fulfill it," he said.

Ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid, Erdogan held talks with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, then Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on June 28, 2022. The talks yielded a memorandum, which was a kind of roadmap for Stockholm and Helsinki’s membership in the alliance. On March 31, Turkey’s parliament approved a protocol on Finland’s admission to NATO but refused to approve Sweden’s membership bid, demanding that Stockholm implement all the provisions of the Madrid memorandum on combating terrorism.

Ankara has also criticized Stockholm for pandering to supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which is banned in Turkey, and to Quran-burning actions.

Tags

NATO Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan Sweden

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