Sweden to fulfill Turkey conditions to join NATO: PM
During his visit to Turkey, the Swedish PM says his country will not have any relationship with the Kurdistan Workers Party.
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Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (AA)
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sweden will fulfill Turkey's conditions to join NATO, adding that Sweden will not have any relationship with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Kristersson, who is in Turkey on an official visit, was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying that "I would like to inform you that the Swedish parliament started working on the establishment of an inter-parliamentary friendship group with Turkey."
"Sweden will fulfill the memorandum to the end. We will not have any relationship with the group of the Kurdistan Workers Party," he indicated.
On Saturday, Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told Swedish Radio that the country's new government will distance itself from the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) in order to win Turkey's approval to join the military alliance.
One request vs. a long list of conditions
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 28, 2022
While #Turkey had a long list of conditions from #Finland and #Sweden, all the two Nordic states wanted was to join #NATO.
Here's your guide to understanding on what basis the agreement was made. pic.twitter.com/Aw7Jtu7frp
It is noteworthy that Turkey, the US, and the EU consider the YPG and its political branch PYD as a "terrorist" group.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday that until Finland and Sweden take the necessary "steps", Turkey will not ratify their membership of NATO.
The two Nordic nations have been accused by Turkey of providing a safe haven for outlawed Kurdish militants it deems "terrorists" and held back on ratifying their NATO membership despite an agreement in June.
"President Erdogan noted that the steps to be taken by Sweden and Finland would determine how fast the approval process... would go and when it would be concluded," the Turkish presidency indicated.
Finland and Sweden dropped decades of military non-alignment and scrambled to become NATO members in May after the start of the Ukraine war.
On October 1st, Erdogan said that Turkey will continue to freeze Sweden and Finland's bids for NATO membership until the promises made by the two Nordic countries are "kept".
Twenty-eight of NATO's 30 allies have so far ratified the accession of Finland and Sweden, leaving only Turkey and Hungary to sign off before they officially join the group.
