NATO chief to Turkiye’s Erdogan: Sweden ‘has fulfilled obligations’ for membership
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Sunday called on Ankara to drop its opposition to Sweden's bid to join the defense alliance, saying Stockholm has addressed Turkiye’s security concerns, Azernews reports, citing Al Arabiya.
“Sweden has taken significant concrete steps to meet Turkiye’s concerns,” Stoltenberg told reporters after meeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “Sweden has fulfilled its obligations.”
Stoltenberg attended on Saturday the inauguration of Erdogan, who was re-elected to serve another five years, in a lavish ceremony joined by dozens of world leaders in the capital Ankara.
NATO member Turkiye has dragged its feet over admitting Sweden to the military alliance. It and Hungary are the only two member countries yet to ratify the membership bid.
Finland formally joined the alliance in April.
Erdogan has accused Sweden of being a haven for “terrorists,” especially members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group blacklisted by Turkiye and its Western allies.
---
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!