The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has agreed to pave the way for Sweden's NATO membership, after the latter agreed to some conditions listed by Ankara.
According to what was announced at the press conference of the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, some of the points negotiated between the parties were positions on the FETÖ organization, economic agreements between the two countries, the fight against terrorism and others. .
More specifically, at the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Sweden and Turkey agreed to continue their cooperation both within the framework of the Permanent Joint Tripartite Mechanism established at the NATO Summit in Madrid in 2022, and within the framework of a new bilateral Security Pact that will meet annually at ministerial level and create ad hoc working groups.
At the first meeting of this Security Pact, Sweden will present a roadmap as a basis for continuing its fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations towards the full implementation of all elements of the Tripartite Memorandum, including Article 4.
Sweden also reiterated that it will not provide support to the YPG/PYD and the described organization FETÖ in Turkey.
Both Sweden and Turkey agreed that cooperation against terrorism is a long-term effort, which will continue even after Sweden joins NATO.
Secretary General Stoltenberg also reaffirmed that NATO categorically condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. NATO will significantly increase its work in this area, including the creation, for the first time in NATO, by the Secretary General of the post of Special Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism.
The head of NATO stated that the alliance will ensure that there should be no restrictions, barriers or sanctions in defense trade and investments between the allies.
Sweden and the Republic of Turkey also agreed to intensify economic cooperation, through the Turkey-Sweden Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO).
Both Turkey and Sweden will seek to maximize opportunities to increase bilateral trade and investment. Sweden will actively support efforts to revitalize Turkey's EU accession process, including the modernization of the EU-Turkey customs union and visa liberalization.
US President Joe Biden on Monday welcomed President Erdogan's agreement to support Sweden's membership. In a statement released by the White House, President Biden said he added that he is ready to work with President Erdogan to increase "defense in the Euro-Atlantic area."