Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a telephone conversation with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson that Ankara expects Sweden to take “concrete steps to tackle terrorist organisations,” Turkish news agency Anadolu reported on Saturday. The two discussed the possible accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, which Erdogan opposes.
Erdogan wants, among other things, that the country stops its political and financial support for terrorist organizations and the supply of weapons to these groups. He also wants the Swedish government to lift restrictions on arms exports to Turkey. These restrictions were introduced in 2019 after Turkey’s military operations in Northern Syria, among others.
Sweden and Finland officially applied for NATO membership on Wednesday. Erdogan, however, opposes their accession. Both countries are said to be harboring terrorists, including Kurdish militants of the PKK banned in Turkey. Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde emphasized on Friday that Sweden was the first country after Turkey to label the PKK as terrorist.
The Turkish president also called his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö on Saturday. According to Niinistö, the two had an “open and direct” conversation. “I made it clear that Finland and Turkey, as NATO allies, will commit to each other’s security and that this will strengthen our relationship. Finland condemns all forms of terrorism,” he said afterwards. According to the Finnish president, the negotiations continue.