Erdogan: Turkey's Approval for Sweden's NATO Membership Conditional on Ending Harboring "Terrorists"

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated on Monday that Turkey will not approve Sweden's accession to NATO unless it ceases to harbor groups that Ankara deems terrorist. Erdogan said in a speech following a Cabinet meeting, "Turkey expects Sweden to stop sheltering members of these groups." He added, "Everyone should acknowledge that they cannot befriend Turkey while allowing terrorists to demonstrate in the largest central squares of their cities." Erdogan emphasized, "Our stance, expectations, and promises are all clear. We currently defend the same principles we defended last year. We just want them to remain committed to what they have signed." Sweden claims that it has fulfilled its commitments under an agreement made with Turkey in Madrid last year to address Ankara's security concerns, which included enacting a new anti-terrorism law this month. Turkey has stated that changing the law in Sweden is "worthless" while supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party are conducting protests there.