Sweden not to join NATO until it overcomes differences with Turkiye
The head of the Turkish presidential administration's communications department, Fahrettin Altun, has said that Sweden will not be able to join NATO until bilateral differences are overcome.
He made the remarks in his article for the Swedish Expressen newspaper, Gazeta.ru reports.
The main claim remains Sweden's active support for members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK], which is banned by the Turkish authorities. According to Altun, Turkiye, being one of the "target countries" of terrorism, is actively fighting such "double standards", the report added.
"Given this history, it would be unacceptable for Turkiye to watch Sweden trying to join NATO without reconsidering its position. From Turkiye's point of view, the fight against such people who pose as asylum seekers for the Swedish people, despite the fact that they were involved in crimes against innocent people in Turkiye, is an indispensable condition of the union," the Turkish representative said.
He stressed that it would be unpleasant for the Swedes if Ankara granted asylum to those "responsible for the terrorist attack in Stortorget".
"We are certainly glad that Sweden is not threatened by such a terrorist threat, but I want to make it very clear that Sweden will not be able to join NATO until Turkiye's just concerns are resolved. If Sweden expects that the second-largest NATO army will stand up to defend it in the event of an attack, it must accept this fact," Altun concluded.