Turkey’s Erdoğan agrees to support Sweden’s bid to join NATO

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has agreed to support Sweden’s bid to join NATO, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced during a press conference in Vilnius.

Stoltenberg added that on 12 July, a trilateral meeting is planned between Sweden, Turkey, and NATO. He noted that Turkey has time to ratify Sweden’s NATO bid before the Vilnius summit begins on 11-12 July.

In early June, Stoltenberg reported that Sweden had fulfilled its agreement with Turkey to join NATO. Sweden applied for NATO membership in May 2022.

On 21 January, Rasmus Paludan, the leader of Stram Kurs, a far-right Danish political party, burnt a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. Paludan reportedly has a Swedish passport.

Shortly after that, Erdoğan came out with a statement saying that Sweden should not expect Turkey’s support in joining NATO. Turkey demanded that Sweden hand over Kurdish activists that sought asylum in the country and lift a number of sanctions.