A meeting between Sweden, Turkey and NATO on June 12 was announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg after his meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. He said that Sweden wants to respond to Ankara's concerns, describing Turkey as a valuable ally.
In his statements after his meeting with the Turkish President in Istanbul, Mr. Stoltenberg said: "Turkey is an important country for NATO and its contribution to NATO is very great. This includes peacekeepers, who take responsibility in places where tension is high. He thanked Turkey for sending a team to Kosovo, and noted that Turkey is also helping NATO forces in Iraq and training NATO forces in Hungary, while giving strong support to Ukraine.
The NATO Secretary General said that he also spoke with the Turkish President about Sweden's accession to NATO. "Turkey has legitimate security concerns. No other members of the alliance were attacked. Sweden has taken concrete measures. There are also steps to amend Sweden's constitution and take measures against terrorism. The new terrorism law has come into force, so Sweden has fulfilled its responsibilities.
According to Mr. Stoltenberg, "it should also be understood that there were demonstrations in Sweden against NATO and Turkey". Noting that the freedom of demonstration is one of the greatest values in our democratic society, he said, however, "we must remember that it is necessary to know why the demonstrations took place. The organizers are trying to prevent Sweden from joining NATO.
“We must not let them succeed,” he added. He said that, at the last Summit, Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed the tripartite agreement which included permanent mechanisms. "President Erdogan and I agreed that the Permanent Joint Mechanisms will meet again on June 12 next week. This will make Sweden safer,'' he said.
The NATO Secretary General said he always stressed the importance of progress in Sweden's integration. "I will go to Ankara soon to discuss how we can ensure Sweden's accession to NATO as quickly as possible," he said.
The meeting was also attended by the new Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hakan Fidan, the new Minister Defense, Yasar Guler, as well as Ibrahim Kalin.
Source: KYPE
