“Constructive” talks with Türkiye to clear up misunderstandings: Sweden
Sweden’s State Secretary Oscar Stenström said on Tuesday that within the framework of the NATO agreement signed by Turkey, Finland and Sweden, a decision has been made to increase cooperation between Turkish and Swedish security units, describing the latest talks as “constructive”.
Stenström evaluated the first meeting of the joint mechanism held in Finland on August 26 to the newspaper Aftonbladet.
“The talks with Türkiye were constructive and open-hearted. At the meeting, it was decided to expand the cooperation between the countries’ security units in accordance with the agreement. The meeting should be seen as part of a deepened, long-term cooperation between Sweden and Turkey. Given the background to Sweden’s NATO membership, this collaboration is important and natural, he says.
Türkiye, Sweden and Finland continue to discuss the two Scandinavian countries’ Nato bid while efforts are made to clear up misunderstandings, the Swedish daily reported on Tuesday, citing the meeting held between the three countries on September 2.
The Turkish delegation claimed that Sweden has not fulfilled what was agreed in the settlement during the NATO summit held in Madrid in June, Aftonbladet said, citing Swedish officials.
The daily added that the Turkish delegation also showed photographs from demonstrations in Sweden where the flags of the PKK terrorist group were waved.
“The meeting was constructive and held in a good spirit, but the Turkish delegation continued to criticize several points that the Swedish side partially thinks are incorrect. Therefore, these meetings have been partly about clearing up misunderstandings,” the officials told the newspaper.
Turkey has not provided any information on when it might approve Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO applications, the daily reported.
In May, Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
However, Türkiye, a member of NATO for more than 70 years, opposed the two countries’ membership aspirations due to their tolerance and even support for terrorist groups, including the PKK, its Syrian branch YPG and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
In its more than 40-year campaign of terror against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, the EU and the UK – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
FETÖ orchestrated the failed coup on 15 July 2016 in Türkiye, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured. FETÖ was also behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state by infiltrating Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
On June 28, the trio signed a trilateral memorandum at the NATO summit in Madrid to address Turkey’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership.
The first meeting for a permanent joint mechanism between Türkiye, Finland and Sweden was held in Finland last month.
The Turkish delegation of the Mechanism was led by Turkish Presidential Spokesperson Ibrahim Kalın and Deputy Foreign Minister Sedat Önal, with the participation of representatives from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Justice, as well as intelligence and security institutions.
The Swedish delegation was led by the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Security Oscar Stenström and the Finnish delegation was led by the Permanent State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jukka Salovaara.
During the meeting, the working principles of the mechanism were determined, the progress of the implementation of the commitments in the trilateral memorandum was reviewed and concrete measures to be taken in the coming period were emphasized.
Finland and Sweden reiterated that they will show full solidarity and cooperation with Turkey in the fight against terrorist groups and that they will not support the groups that threaten Turkey’s national security.
They agreed to intensify cooperation at the technical level between the relevant institutions to achieve concrete progress on the issues.
After the meeting, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that the talks between the three countries had been positive.
Ankara made it clear that it will oppose the Nordic countries’ NATO membership if its security concerns are not met.