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July 10 (UPI) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for his country to gain entry into the European Union in exchange for supporting Sweden’s bid to become the newest member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Erdogan intends to publicly express this request at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, starting on Tuesday. He has already informed U.S. President Joe Biden, who has been vocal in advocating for Sweden’s NATO membership (source).
Turkey holds significant influence over Sweden’s fate as an existing NATO member and can exercise full veto power. However, Turkey has refrained from supporting Sweden due to accusations of the Nordic nation harboring Kurdish “terrorist organizations.”
The similar concerns with Finland, which also applied for NATO membership alongside Sweden, were resolved through negotiations, ultimately leading to Finland’s entry into the military alliance in April as the 31st member. Finland gained Turkey’s support and successfully addressed the concerns (source).
Sweden’s bid for NATO membership has faced challenges, including public incidents of Quran burnings. Most recently, Salwan Momika, an Iraqi man, burned the Islamic holy text during a protest last month.
In response, Fahrettin Altun, Erdogan’s head of communications, called for swift action and a clear stance against what Turkey considers “terrorism” by Swedish authorities. Altun highlighted Turkey’s discontent with the “enabling of Islamophobia” and the continued instances of hatred towards their religion by European authorities, particularly in Sweden (source).
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed support for Turkey’s EU membership aspirations during a news conference and emphasized the importance of Sweden meeting the specific requirements necessary for its NATO membership. Stoltenberg stressed that Sweden’s inclusion in the alliance would strengthen NATO’s defense capabilities, especially in the Baltic region (source).
Additionally, Erdogan has been pushing for Ukraine’s inclusion in NATO, which is expected to be a significant topic of discussion at the summit. Erdogan’s statement that Ukraine deserves NATO membership was met with caution from U.S. President Joe Biden, who highlighted the potential risks of such a move, including the possibility of war with Russia (source).
Despite differing opinions, Stoltenberg expressed confidence in NATO members reaching a unified and strong message regarding Ukraine. The final decision has yet to be made, but Stoltenberg anticipates consensus at the summit (source).
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