ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Turkish and Swedish foreign ministers agreed on Wednesday to hold more talks aimed at facilitating Stockholm’s bid to join NATO after a “permanent joint mechanism meeting” between both countries, Turkish state media reported. Sweden and Finland last year reversed their decades-long tradition of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Unanimous approval is required by alliance members and Turkey has used this as leverage to pressure the Nordic countries to counter Kurdish groups it considers “terrorists” in exchange for Ankara’s yes on the accession. While Finland’s NATO bid was ratified in April, Ankara continues to block Stockholm from joining. In a phone call between Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom, Fidan said that “concrete steps are needed to make on Sweden’s bid to join NATO,” according to the Turkish foreign ministry. Turkey has repeatedly accused Sweden of harboring and supporting groups including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), considered terrorists by Ankara, and has pushed for the extradition of their members. On Tuesday, Sweden’s top court approved the extradition of a PKK supporter to Turkey, with the court saying it had received reassurances from Turkey that the man was not being persecuted for the crimes of “propaganda for a terrorist organization” or “insulting the Turkish president.” In November, Stockholm passed a law that authorizes the prosecution of individuals for the crime of “participating in a terrorist organization,” likely to appease Turkey. The law came into effect on June 1. Turkey, Sweden, and NATO are set to meet next week for further talks.
