President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. In a joint statement following the meeting, Kristersson stated that Sweden was ready to provide active support to Turkey’s EU membership process.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson as part of the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit. The meeting took place at the LITEXPO Exhibition and Congress Center and was closed to the press. Prior to the meeting, the heads of state explained that Turkey would support Sweden’s advancement in the NATO accession process after months of disagreements over Turkey’s demands.
During the press conference held after the meeting, the parties stated that Sweden would actively support Turkey’s EU membership process, including updates to the Customs Union and visa liberalization. Additionally, both countries are committed to eliminating sanctions and barriers in defense trade and investments among allies. Sweden reaffirmed its stance of not providing support to YPG/PYD, Kurdish groups operating in Syria that are considered terrorist organizations by Turkey, as well as FETÖ, a religious organization that Turkey views as a terrorist group and holds responsible for the attempted coup in 2016 to overthrow the Erdoğan government.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that, for the first time in NATO’s history, a Special Counterterrorism Coordinator will be appointed to facilitate communication between the two nations.
Biden: “I stand ready to work with President Erdoğan and Türkiye”
I stand ready to work with President Erdoğan and Turkey on enhancing defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area. I am also excited to welcome Prime Minister Kristersson and Sweden as our 32nd NATO Ally.
The U.S. State Department openly declared their endorsement of the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey and reaffirmed their ongoing support for Turkey’s aspirations to join the European Union. Since being removed from the F-35 program in 2019 due to Turkey’s procurement of the Russian S-400 air defense system, which raised concerns about interoperability and security risks, Turkey has been seeking to acquire F-16 jets from the United States.
While the Biden administration has been open to providing Turkey with new Block 70/72 F-16 aircraft, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen. Bob Menendez has consistently stated his intention to veto any legislation lifting the CAATSA sanctions on Turkey. However, this week Sen. Menendez adopted a more nuanced tone, acknowledging that he is in discussions with the administration while still expressing concerns about Turkey’s assertive stance in the region.
Responses from leaders
NATO General secretary Jens Stoltenberg tweeted
Medyascope'un günlük e-bülteni
Andaç'a abone olun
Editörlerimizin derlediği öngörüler, analizler, Türkiye’yi ve dünyayı şekillendiren haberler, Medyascope’un e-bülteni Andaç‘la her gün mail kutunuzda.
President of the European Council Charles Michele responded
Kristersson: A good day for Sweden
According to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Sweden has not agreed to any new demands from Turkey. However, it has been agreed to develop the work that was started during last year’s NATO summit in Madrid.
Kristersson stated “This has been my goal image for a very long time. Today we took a very, very big step towards ratification.”
After the trilateral summit, a 7-point memorandum was released by NATO and stated the following:
- On 10 July, 2023, President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan of Türkiye, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met at the NATO Summit in Vilnius.
- Since the last NATO Summit, Sweden and Türkiye have worked closely together to address Türkiye’s legitimate security concerns. As part of that process, Sweden has amended its constitution, changed its laws, significantly expanded its counter- terrorism cooperation against the PKK, and resumed arms exports to Türkiye, all steps set out in the Trilateral Memorandum agreed in 2022.
- Sweden and Türkiye agree today to continue their cooperation under both the Trilateral Permanent Joint Mechanism established at the Madrid NATO Summit 2022, and under a new bilateral Security Compact that will meet annually at ministerial level and create working groups as appropriate. At the first meeting of this Security Compact, Sweden will present a roadmap as the basis of its continued fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations towards the full implementation of all elements of the Trilateral Memorandum, including article 4. Sweden reiterates that it will not provide support to YPG/PYD, and the organisation described as FETÖ in Türkiye.
- Both Sweden and Türkiye agreed that counter-terrorism cooperation is a long-term effort, which will continue beyond Sweden’s accession to NATO. Secretary General Stoltenberg also reconfirmed that NATO categorically condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. NATO will be significantly stepping up its work in this area, including by the Secretary General establishing, for the first time at NATO, the post of Special Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism.
- We commit to the principle that there should be no restrictions, barriers or sanctions to defence trade and investment among Allies. We will work towards eliminating such obstacles.
- Sweden and Türkiye have also agreed to step up economic cooperation, through the Türkiye-Sweden Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO). Both Türkiye and Sweden will look to maximise opportunities to increase bilateral trade and investments. Sweden will actively support efforts to reinvigorate Türkiye’s EU accession process, including modernisation of the EU-Türkiye Customs Union and visa liberalisation.
- On this basis, and given the imperatives of the deterrence and defence of the Euro- Atlantic area, Türkiye will transmit the Accession Protocol for Sweden to the Grand National Assembly, and work closely with the Assembly to ensure ratification.
Before departing for Lithuania, Erdoğan stated in a press conference that regarding Sweden’s NATO membership process, “First, open the way for Turkey in the European Union, and we will open the way for Sweden.”
