If Turkey is expected to respond to Stockholm's expectations of accession to NATO, Sweden must also do its part on PKK ahead of next month’s NATO summit, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Anadolu Agency reports.
"The NATO summit will be held in Vilnius. Hopefully, unless something extraordinary happens, I will attend," Erdogan told reporters Tuesday, ahead of a meeting of a joint mechanism of Turkey, Sweden, and Finland set for Wednesday in the Turkish capital Ankara.
"The expectations of Sweden do not mean that we will comply with these expectations. In order for us to comply with these expectations, first of all, Sweden must do its part”, he said on the presidential plane, returning from foreign visits.
"Where is NATO's counter-terrorism leg? NATO has to deal with this once. After having not dealt with this, we cannot treat them (Sweden) as the blue-eyed boy in Vilnius", Erdogan said.
Although Turkey approved Finland's membership to NATO, it is waiting for Sweden to abide by a trilateral memorandum signed last June in Madrid to address Ankara's security concerns on terrorism.
Seeking to win Turkey’s greenlight for membership, a new Swedish anti-terror law, which came into effect this month, allows authorities to prosecute individuals who support terror groups.
Several countries have said they hope Turkey will approve Sweden's bid ahead of the NATO summit next month.
