Sweden to fulfill Turkey’s conditions to join NATO

As Turkey’s opposition to the membership of Finland and Sweden in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) continued, Stockholm announced the acceptance of Ankara’s conditions for joining the organization.

According to RIA Novosti, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson who is in Turkey on an official visit said, “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 [terrorist] group of the Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK].”

Earlier on Saturday, Sweden’s foreign minister told Swedish Radio that Sweden’s new government will distance itself from the Kurdish YPG militia as it tries to win Turkey’s approval to join NATO.

The YPG militia and its political branch PYD are considered by Turkey extensions of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is regarded as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

After the start of the Ukraine war, Sweden and Finland in May applied to join the transatlantic alliance.

But Turkey has stalled ratification of their bids — which require unanimous approval from NATO’s 30 members — accusing the Nordic nations, and especially Sweden, of providing a safe haven for outlawed Kurdish militants that Ankara says are “terrorists”.

The governments of Turkey and Hungary are the only remaining countries in the NATO alliance that have not yet agreed to Finland and Sweden’s request for membership in NATO due to the fact that their conditions have not been met.