Erdoğan links Sweden’s Nato bid with Turkey’s EU accession

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Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has tied Ankara’s approval of Sweden’s Nato bid to his nation’s efforts to enter the EU, in a contemporary blow to Stockholm’s try to hitch the army alliance.

“I name out to those that have stored Turkey ready on the EU door for greater than 50 years, pave the best way for Turkey and we’ll pave the best way for Sweden,” Erdoğan mentioned at a press convention on Monday as he departed for a pivotal Nato summit in Lithuania. 

The Turkish president subsequently met Swedish prime minister Ulf Kristersson and Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg in Vilnius, in a last-ditch effort to resolve Stockholm’s bid earlier than the start of the summit.

Washington and European capitals have been urgent Ankara to approve Sweden’s accession to Nato forward of the summit after the Nordic nation broke with generations of neutrality following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine final 12 months.

Sweden has made a number of concessions in an try and woo Ankara, together with the passage of a brand new anti-terrorism legislation.

However Erdoğan has insisted Stockholm takes additional measures, together with curbs on public demonstrations by supporters of the Kurdistan Employees’ get together (PKK), which is assessed as a terrorist organisation by jurisdictions such because the EU, US and UK, in addition to by Turkey itself. 

The Turkish president can also be scheduled to see European Council president Charles Michel forward of the Nato summit. 

EU officers admitted shock on the timing of Erdoğan’s remarks however mentioned the demand hearkened again to the Turkish chief’s high-wire diplomatic blackmail over the 2015 migration disaster. “Erdoğan is upping the ante,” mentioned an EU official who declined to be named. “It’s a bit excessive.”

Stoltenberg mentioned Sweden’s membership might nonetheless be ratified this week, regardless of Erdoğan’s newest demand. The Nato secretary-general mentioned he backed Ankara’s bid to hitch the EU, whereas insisting Stockholm had already met the situations required to hitch the 31-member alliance.

“What we agreed in Madrid [last year] was a selected record of situations that Sweden has to fulfill to be a full member of the alliance and Sweden has met these situations,” Stoltenberg mentioned at a information convention on Monday, including: “It’s nonetheless potential to have a optimistic determination on Sweden in Vilnius.”

Nato requires all present members to ratify candidates to ensure that them to hitch the western alliance. The one different holdout on Sweden’s software is Hungary, however analysts say Budapest is prone to comply with Ankara’s lead.

Stockholm’s determination final month to permit a Koran to be burnt at a protest exterior of a mosque at the beginning of an vital Muslim vacation has additionally critically worsened tensions between Ankara and Stockholm. One former senior Turkish diplomat described the Koran burning as “very silly” and mentioned he doubted Ankara would imminently conform to Sweden’s accession. 

Turkey’s transfer to hyperlink Sweden’s Nato request with Turkey’s long-stalled try to hitch the EU presents one more hurdle.

The Turkish president on Monday mentioned he would foyer for a restart in Turkey’s EU accession talks and for the US Congress to approve the acquisition of billions of {dollars} value of F-16 fighter jets.

The Biden administration has been supportive of Turkey’s request to purchase the plane, however analysts count on Turkey might want to approve Sweden’s Nato bid to unlock the deal. 

Turkey launched its bid to hitch the European Financial Neighborhood in 1987 and was declared eligible for potential membership to the EU 12 years later. However relations have deteriorated as Erdoğan, who’s getting into his third decade as Turkey’s chief, has slid in direction of autocracy. 

Following nationwide protests in 2013 and a coup try three years later, Erdoğan has eroded civil liberties and undertaken a giant purge within the judiciary, army, authorities establishments and academia. The European parliament voted in 2019 to droop Turkey’s EU accession talks.

Turkey’s transfer in 2021 to tug out of a landmark Council of Europe treaty that goals to forestall violence in opposition to ladies, generally known as the Istanbul Conference, additionally prompted deep consternation within the EU. 

Extra reporting by Funja Güler in Ankara