Ankara blames Stockholm for deliberately endangering NATO accession process

Sweden is deliberately endangering its process of entering NATO, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on February 4 after frequent anti-Türkiye and anti-Islam provocations were not hindered in Stockholm, causing resentment in Ankara.

"Terrorist organizations are laying mines ... and Sweden is deliberately stepping on them. They can clear them if they want," Çavuşoğlu said in the southern Turkish province of Antalya, Daily Sabah reports.

On provocations of terrorist groups targeting Türkiye and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Sweden, Çavuşoğlu said: "It is for Sweden to decide whether to clear the mines or step on them. If you step on them, they will explode."

Terrorist organizations are "roaming in your country," he said, adding that if Sweden fulfils its commitments made in a tripartite memorandum for NATO accession, "we will sit down, talk and keep our word."

Tensions escalated between Sweden and Türkiye after a range of anti-Türkiye and anti-Islam provocations in the country.

In one of the acts that took place in Sweden, Erdoğan's effigy was hanged on a lamppost outside Stockholm’s City Hall. In another incident, a far-right activist burned a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy.

Türkiye postponed the next tripartite meeting slated for February in Brussels with Sweden and Finland on their NATO bids while also cancelling a parliamentary and defence minister visit by Stockholm to Ankara. The protests in Sweden also led to a wave of anti-Swedish protests in other Muslim countries.

Following the incidents, Erdoğan said last week that Türkiye looks positively on Finland's application for NATO membership but does not support Sweden's bid.

Sweden and neighbouring Finland abandoned decades of non-alignment and applied to join NATO in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. All NATO members except Türkiye and Hungary have ratified their accession, but unanimity is required.

Ankara has previously said Sweden in particular must first take a clearer stance against terrorists. Türkiye has frequently voiced that it does not oppose NATO enlargement but criticizes Stockholm for not taking action against elements that are posing a security threat to Ankara.

Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance. But recent provocative demonstrations by terrorist sympathizers and Islamophobic figures in Stockholm have led Turkish leaders to question Sweden’s commitment to take the steps necessary to gain NATO membership.

Ankara has long criticized Stockholm for housing members of various terrorist organizations, particularly members of the PKK and, in recent years, the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ) – the organization behind the 2016 defeated coup attempt in Türkiye.

Ahead of a historic NATO summit, the three countries signed a trilateral deal in June that prevented a Turkish veto. In the memorandum, the Nordic countries said they would address Türkiye’s extradition requests for terrorists. In addition, the joint directive states that Finland and Sweden “will not provide support to ... the organization described as FETÖ” and terrorist groups."