Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the stakes further Monday ahead of a key NATO summit in Vilnius, suggesting that Ankara’s stalled membership talks with the European Union should be revived in exchange for greenlighting Sweden’s accession to the alliance.
“First, pave the way for Turkey in the European Union and then let us pave the way for Sweden, just as we paved the way for Finland,” Erdogan told reporters before taking off for the Lithuanian capital, where he was due to hold trilateral talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
The call is the latest in a series of Turkish demands in exchange for approving Sweden’s membership. They include Erdogan’s insistence that Sweden prevent pro-Kurdish demonstrations from taking place on its soil.
Stoltenberg backed Erdogan’s call, saying that he supported Turkey’s ambition of joining the EU, an empty gesture since he has no influence over the decision.
Erdogan’s last-minute brinkmanship before the summit kicks off on July 11 is part of a long-running strategy of extracting maximum concessions before yielding to pressure, much of it from the United States.
In a thinly veiled reference to congressional sanctions on military sales to Turkey stemming from its 2019 invasion of northern Syria and acquisition of Russian missile batteries, Erdogan said he would use the summit to “repeat our call to the allies who impose sanctions and restrictions on Turkey to quickly turn back from this mistake.”
Sweden’s bid to join NATO after decades of determined neutrality together with Finland followed Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Even as he listed reasons for objecting to Sweden’s adherence, Erdogan said he supported Ukraine’s membership, reasoning that ending the war with “a just and lasting peace as soon as possible will further facilitate Ukraine’s NATO membership process.” That comment will have surely riled the Kremlin, which aired its anger this weekend over Turkey’s decision to allow five members of Ukraine’s paramilitary Azov regiment to fly back home with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy.
In a Sunday phone call with US President Joe Biden, Erdogan made many of the same arguments, though they were not reflected in the White House readout. It said the pair had taken up “a range of issues that NATO leaders will consider at the summit, expressed their shared commitment to continue supporting Ukraine, and reviewed efforts to strengthen our bilateral ties.”
“President Biden also conveyed his desire to welcome Sweden in NATO as soon as possible,” the readout noted.
The Turkish presidency said the sides had agreed to meet in person in Vilnius and to discuss regional issues in detail. The meeting could take place tonight as Washington pushes to secure a deal in time for the summit.
The readout from the Turkish presidency said that despite having taken “certain steps in the right direction” — a reference to Sweden’s recently revamped anti-terror legislation — its failure to prevent demonstrations in support of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, that is waging an armed campaign against the Turkish state rendered such moves “meaningless.”
Erdogan also apparently raised the ongoing controversy over Turkey’s efforts to buy US F-16 fighter jets. The White House backs the sale. Congress insists that Turkey needs to lift its veto on Sweden’s membership first. Linking Turkey’s acquisition of F-16 jets to Sweden’s membership was misguided, the Turkish readout observed. Nonetheless, the Turkish leader thanked Biden for his support for the sales.
