Türkiye’s Policy toward Sweden’s Accession to NATO

Kadir Ustun, the Executive Director of SETA DC, was featured on Al Jazeera, where he discussed Türkiye’s stance on Sweden’s bid to join NATO. The discussion revolves around Türkiye’s dissatisfaction with Sweden’s response to Türkiye’s concerns about the PKK, a group recognized as a terror organization by the European Union. Türkiye argues that Sweden has not taken sufficient concrete action to curb the activities of this group on its soil, such as blocking their demonstrations or extraditing people associated with it.

In addition to this, the conversation brings up a recent incident in Sweden where an Iraqi refugee burned a Quran in front of a mosque in Stockholm, a move sanctioned by a Swedish court. This event is seen as provocative and damaging to Sweden’s NATO ambitions as well.

Ustun asserted that Türkiye, having been a long-term victim of terrorism, demands reassurance from Sweden, particularly if Sweden seeks an alliance with Türkiye. Despite Sweden’s progress in passing legislation and changing laws, Türkiye is expecting further concrete commitments before giving a green light to Sweden’s accession.