According to Foreign Minister Tobias Billström, Sweden is aiming for NATO membership by the July summit. According to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, the road is still long.
Sweden’s NATO process does not seem to have progressed much, the country’s foreign minister said Tobias Billström after meeting his Turkish official brother Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Ankara.
Billström characterized the meeting as excellent and said that the NATO negotiations are progressing well.
According to Çavuşoğlu, Sweden is not even halfway to Turkey’s demands yet. The biggest point of contention is related to the list that Turkey gave to Sweden of the persons it demands to be extradited to Turkey.
– We welcome certain steps. We will not ignore them, but there are more steps, important steps that need to be taken, Çavuşoğlu said at the foreign ministers’ press conference after the meeting.
According to Çavuşoğlu, despite the memorandum of understanding signed by Turkey, Sweden and Finland at the NATO summit in Madrid in June, “Sweden is still an attractive center” for Gülenists. This refers to a religious scholar in exile Fetullah Gülen followers.
At the beginning of December, Sweden deported a man who received a negative asylum decision to Turkey, who, according to Turkey, has connections with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK. According to Çavuşoğlu, this is a step in the right direction.
– However, no progress has been made on certain topics, especially regarding the deportation of persons linked to terrorism or the freezing of terrorist assets.
According to Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu (you will switch to another service) Supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK in Finland and Sweden are working against the countries’ NATO membership.
Billström: We have an independent judiciary
In recent days, Turkey has been especially angered by the decision of the Swedish Supreme Court, according to which Sweden may not extradite a Turkish journalist Bülent Keneş. He has worked for a newspaper close to the Gülen movement, and Turkey accuses him of being involved in the 2016 coup attempt.
Billström’s visit to Turkey had already been agreed upon before the Supreme Court’s decision.
“Unfortunately, preventing the handover poisoned the positive atmosphere,” Çavuşoğlu said at the press conference.
In his speech, Billström assured that Sweden takes Turkey’s security concerns seriously.
– We take our obligations seriously. Sweden has an independent judiciary and all cases are reviewed through this independent judiciary, Billström commented at the press conference.
Billström reminded of Sweden’s actions, such as allowing arms exports to Turkey and the constitutional amendment enabling the tightening of terrorism laws, which will enter into force in January.
– We hope that we can become members at the latest at the NATO summit in Vilnius in July, says Billström.
– Our goal is for the Turkish Parliament to ratify our application much before this.
Sources: Reuters, AFP, AP, Uutiset
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