Sweden’s foreign minister to Ankara
ANKARA
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström will visit Turkey and meet Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
In a written statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry, it is stated that “Turkiye-Sweden bilateral relations will be discussed in the meetings that will be held between our minister and the visiting minister.”
Within the framework of the EU presidency that Sweden takes over in January 2023, it is intended to exchange views on Turkey-EU relations, Sweden’s NATO membership process and other regional and international issues, the ministry stated.
The Swedish minister will also visit the Riksdag.
Following the decision by a Swedish court to reject Turkey’s request for the extradition of FETÖ member Bülent Keneş, Çavuşoğlu and Billström are also expected to discuss this decision.
“The rejection of our request for the extradition of Bülent Keneş was a very negative development. We do not expect good words from Sweden and Finland but concrete steps,” Çavuşoğlu said on December 20.
Turkey, Sweden and Finland recently held meetings at both political and technical levels to coordinate their accession to NATO. “Everyone must comply with the commitments outlined in the trilateral protocol,” Çavuşoğlu said.
Both countries have taken steps, and especially the new government in Stockholm has shown a positive approach so far, the minister said, “They even extradited one person even though this person was not on our demand list. But if they think this will enough, this is not a realistic assessment.”