NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday that officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland would meet around the middle of this month for further discussions on Sweden's application to join the alliance, which is hampered by objections from Turkey and Hungary.
Stoltenberg's statement came after his meeting today with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul.
The NATO chief said during a two-hour meeting with Erdogan that "Sweden has fulfilled its obligations" to Turkey in preparation for joining the alliance, acknowledging that there are "legitimate security concerns for Turkey towards Sweden's accession to NATO."
Turkey has been objecting for 13 months to Sweden's accession to NATO on the grounds that it is lenient with activists belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara classifies as a terrorist organization.
Stoltenberg pointed out that "the time has come for this (accession) to happen before the Vilnius summit" scheduled for July 11 and 12, when the heads of the 31 NATO countries meet, and the same spokesman considered that "there are those who are trying to prevent Sweden from joining NATO with the aim of weakening the alliance."
Demonstration in Stockholm
In a related context, Anadolu Agency reported that supporters of the Syrian Democratic Forces organized a demonstration on Sunday in the Swedish capital Stockholm, targeting Turkish President Erdogan, and Sweden's membership in NATO, and protesters expressed their rejection of the new anti-terrorism law, demanding its repeal.
Ankara sees the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the PKK's arm in Syrian territory.
On May 3, the Swedish parliament approved the new draft sanctions law on combating terrorism, which is one of Turkey's main demands for approval of Sweden's membership in NATO.
On June 28, 2022, Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding on the latter two countries' accession to NATO after pledging to respond to Ankara's demands on cooperation in the fight against terrorism.