The Turkish president’s statement came hours before Swedish, Finnish and NATO officials were scheduled to hold talks with their Turkish counterparts in Ankara.
Sweden cannot wait for Turkey to approve its NATO membership ahead of the Atlantic alliance’s summit next month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday, saying Stockholm was not fully implementing its new anti-terror laws to crack down on the action of Kurdish separatists whom Ankara calls “terrorists”.
Ankara “cannot approach positively” Sweden’s request to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization when “terrorists” are protesting in the streets of Stockholm, Mr. Erdogan insisted, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency, addressing to journalists accompanying him on the plane he was returning to his country from Azerbaijan.
The annual NATO summit will be held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, on July 11 and 12.
Mr Erdogan’s announcement came hours before Swedish, Finnish and NATO officials were scheduled to hold talks with their Turkish counterparts in Ankara. The Swedish side will be told not to expect a change in the Turkish attitude ahead of the summit, the Turkish head of state said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said yesterday in Brussels that “some progress was made” in the contacts in Ankara, that the talks were held “in a constructive atmosphere” and that “we will continue to work” in order to make the ratification of Sweden’s accession “the as soon as possible”.
“Of course, I am not in a position to give you an exact timetable or guarantees,” added the Norwegian, judging that it remains possible that Turkey’s attitude will change in time, that is, before the summit of the alliance.
Source :Skai
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
