Breaking news: The world is talking about Turkey’s NATO decision on Sweden. With the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war, Sweden and Finland knocked on NATO’s door. While all member states approved Finland, President Erdogan had a veto due to the disagreements between Turkey and Sweden, especially in the fight against terrorism. Before the NATO Leaders’ Summit, which started today, Erdoğan met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to discuss Sweden’s NATO membership. An agreement came out of the meeting.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENT FROM USA!
White House National Security Advisor Sullivan made statements regarding President Erdogan’s decision to bring Sweden’s NATO membership to the Parliament. Addressing Erdogan’s call for the EU, Sullivan said, “Turkey’s desire to become a member of the EU is not related to Sweden’s membership in NATO.”
BIDEN IS ON FOR F-16S
Sullivan also said, “Biden plans to forward the sale of F-16s to Turkey in consultation with Congress.”
‘USA’ THEME FROM MINISTER GULER
On the other hand, intense diplomatic traffic continues between Türkiye and the USA. Lastly, today, the Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler spoke on the phone with the US Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin.
According to the statement made by the Ministry of National Defense, bilateral and regional defense and security issues were discussed in the phone call between Minister Güler and his US counterpart Austin. During the meeting, Sweden’s NATO membership process and F-16 procurement and modernization were discussed.
ERDOĞAN WILL SEE BIDEN TODAY
According to information obtained from presidential sources, the Erdogan-Biden meeting will be held at 18.00.
President Erdogan also talked to Biden on the phone on Sunday, where “Ukraine’s position in NATO, Sweden’s NATO membership, the delivery of F-16s and Turkey’s full membership process to the European Union (EU)” were discussed. .
CONTRACTING TEXT IS PUBLISHED
Following yesterday’s Erdogan-Stoltenberg-Kristersson trilateral summit, the following statements were included in the 7-item agreement published by NATO:
“On July 10, 2023, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg came together at the NATO Summit held in Vilnius.
Since the last NATO Summit, Sweden and Turkey have worked closely together to address Turkey’s legitimate security concerns. As part of this process, Sweden changed its constitution, changed its laws, significantly expanded counter-terrorism cooperation against the PKK, and restarted arms exports to Turkey; all these steps were outlined in the Tripartite Memorandum adopted in 2022.
Today, Sweden and Turkey have agreed to continue their cooperation within the framework of both the Permanent Tripartite Joint Mechanism established at the 2022 Madrid NATO Summit and a new bilateral Security Agreement that will meet every year at the ministerial level and create working groups when necessary. At the first meeting of this Security Compact, Sweden will present a roadmap for the full implementation of all elements of the Tripartite Agreement, including Article 4, as the basis for its fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Sweden reiterates that it will not support the YPG/PYD and the organization defined as FETO in Turkey.
Both Sweden and Turkey agreed that cooperation in the fight against terrorism is a long-term effort that will continue after Sweden’s NATO membership. Secretary General Stoltenberg also reaffirmed that NATO categorically condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. NATO will significantly accelerate the work of the Secretary-General in this area, including the establishment of NATO’s first Special Counter-Terrorism Coordinator.
We are committed to the principle that there should be no restrictions, barriers or sanctions on defense trade and investment among Allies. We will work to remove such obstacles.
Sweden and Turkey also agreed to increase their economic cooperation through the Turkey-Sweden Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO). Both Turkey and Sweden will seek to maximize opportunities to increase bilateral trade and investment. Sweden will actively support efforts to revitalize Turkey’s EU accession process, including the modernization of the EU-Turkey Customs Union and visa liberalization.
On this basis, and in view of the imperatives of deterrence and defense of the Euro-Atlantic region, Turkey will forward Sweden’s Accession Protocol to Parliament and work closely with the Assembly to ensure its ratification.”
(AA)