NATO Chief and Turkish President discuss Sweden’s inclusion in military alliance

Europe, News June 26, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on June 25, 2023. The two discussed the latest developments in Russia and Sweden’s bid to join the NATO alliance.

Erdogan told Stoltenberg that Turkey has a “constructive attitude” toward Sweden’s inclusion into the alliance but Stockholm must meet Ankara’s demands to address the issues related to the activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Sweden, an organization that Turkey considers as a terrorist group and wants a tougher stance toward pro-Kurdish activists and members.

According to a readout of the phone call released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Erdogan said that “Turkey maintains its constructive stance regarding Sweden’s membership but that legislative amendments would be meaningless so long as PKK/PYD/YPG supporters organize demonstrations freely in this country.”

Stoltenberg tweeted about his telephonic conversation with the Turkish President, saying that he had a “good call” with Erdogan as a run-up to the upcoming NATO Summit, where “important decisions on terrorism, deterrence, and defense” will be taken. The NATO chief added that “We will continue working together on Sweden’s accession to NATO.”

*^{NATO Secretary General hosts a meeting of senior officials from Turkiye, Finland, and Sweden at NATO headquarters in Brussels. (Image Credit: NATO)}*

In March 2023, senior officials of Turkiye, Sweden, and Finland met at NATO headquarters in Brussels to discuss Nordic nations’ NATO accession. A month later, Finland officially became the 31st member of NATO, the world’s largest military alliance as the Nordic country’s flag was raised at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels alongside its Western partners.

Erdogan and Stoltenberg discuss developments in Russia

The Turkish President and the NATO chief also spoke about the ongoing situation in Russia. During the call, Erdogan told Stoltenberg that Turkey hopes recent developments in Russia will be “a new milestone in the path to a just peace in Ukraine.” He said that the end of tensions between the Russian administration and the Wagner Group “prevented the occurrence of irrevocable humanitarian tragedies in the Ukrainian field.”

On June 23, 2023, Russia’s largest private military, the Wagner group, staged an apparently armed uprising against the Kremlin by sending an armored convoy towards Moscow after raising questions about Vladimir Putin’s grip on power. The move faced a severe backlash from Russian President Putin who vowed to crush the rebellion and punish the culprit behind it.

Wagner’s backdown came after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko intervened in the situation and negotiated a deal between the Wagner Group and Kremlin. After negotiations, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin agreed to live in exile in Belarus.

F-16 jet deal and Sweden’s bid to join NATO

Meanwhile, during his call with Stoltenberg, Turkish President Erdogan also highlighted that his country has faced injustices in the context of the F-35 deal. He also said that the U.S.’s attempt to associate Sweden’s NATO membership with Turkey’s bid to acquire the F-16 fighter jets would only “harm NATO and its security rather than Türkiye”.

The U.S. had denied Turkey’s inclusion in its F-35 program after the fellow NATO member state purchased the Russian S-400 air defense system. Despite the rocky relations, the discussion of a possible F-16 deal emerged between the U.S. and Turkey as an attempt to bolster NATO defense and interoperability against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Biden Administration expressed its support for the sale of the new F-16 jets to Turkey, however, the U.S. Congress blocked the $20 billion sale of jets after Turkey raised objections over Sweden’s accession to NATO.

During a call with Erdogan last month, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke about Turkey’s interest in buying the F-16 fighter jets, while pushing Ankara to abandon its position on Sweden’s inclusion in the NATO alliance.