Senior officials from Turkey, Sweden, Finland, and NATO met in Ankara on June 14, 2023 to discuss Sweden’s progress toward full NATO membership.
In Madrid last June, the leaders of Turkey, Finland, and Sweden agreed to a trilateral memorandum to address Turkey’s legitimate security concerns, thereby clearing the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO. The Permanent Joint Mechanism was also established as part of the memorandum to guarantee the agreement would be carried out as planned.
Following the talks, Stian Jenssen, the Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General, remarked, “I welcome the good and constructive discussion we had today,” “We discussed Stockholm’s significant steps to meet Türkiye’s concerns, including amending the Swedish constitution, ending its arms embargo, and stepping up counter-terrorism cooperation, including against the PKK. Progress is being made, and the atmospherics were positive.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hailed the progress made in Ankara during a Wednesday speech in Brussels. Secretary General Stoltenberg and President Erdogan agreed to the meeting on Wednesday during their June meeting in Istanbul.
