Turkey President Erdogan approves NATO Membership for Sweden
[ad_1]
All members agree on Sweden
After talks with Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christerson in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Stoltenberg said Turkey had agreed to proceed. “I am pleased to announce that President Erdogan has agreed to send the Protocol to Sweden to the Grand National Assembly as soon as possible and work closely with the Assembly to ensure ratification,” Stoltenberg told the media. He further said, ‘This is a historic day.’ NATO membership requires the approval of all members of the military alliance.
Why did Turkey have objection
Turkey accused Sweden of harboring Kurdish activists. Turkey considers them terrorists and because of this, Sweden’s proposal to join NATO was stalled for the last one year. Apart from this, protests are also going on in Sweden for the last few months. In this, prominence is being given to anti-Islam activists who burn Quran. Because of this also the Turkish officials were very angry. A joint statement after the three-way talks said Turkey and Sweden would work together on “counter-terrorism cooperation” and boost trade ties.
Erdogan’s one demand
Earlier on Monday, Erdogan demanded that the European Union should reconsider Turkey’s condition due to the obstruction in Sweden’s demand to become a member of NATO. After this, an uncertainty was also added with the NATO summit being held in Vilnius. Sweden will now become the 32nd member of this alliance. Actually, Turkey has been trying to become a member of the European Union for the last 50 years. Erdogan told the media that almost all NATO member countries are now members of the European Union.
[ad_2]
Source link
