Edited by |hue gey
15-Jan.-2023

      On Saturday A Turkish official said that Sweden needs to end its anti-terrorism laws to win support for its NATO bid

and that it could take more than six months

The aide, Ibrahim Kalin, applauded a constitutional change that Sweden had made as a step toward meeting Turkish demands, but he said it could take until June for the Nordic nation to put in place the laws necessary for those changes to be implemented.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Sweden and Finland to seek membership in NATO, which would grant them protection from the alliance in the case of a Russian attack. Finland shares a long border with Russia, and Sweden has a maritime border.

Joining NATO requires approval by all members, and Turkey has issued extensive demands that it says must be met before it will support the inclusion of Sweden and Finland. These include tightening anti-terrorism laws and extraditing people Turkey considers criminals.

In November, Sweden’s parliament passed a constitutional amendment that makes it possible to pass tougher antiterrorism laws as Turkey has demanded, but so far it has not moved on that legislation.

Turkey has charged that Sweden is harboring people with ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., a Kurdish militant group that Turkey, the European Union, and the United States consider a terrorist organization. Turkey is also seeking the extradition of others accused of links to an Islamic movement that Turkey considers to be a terrorist organization but Western countries do not.

“They have to send a very clear message, not just through words but through actions, to the P.K.K. and its various front organization that Sweden is no longer a safe haven for them,” Mr. Kalin told reporters in Istanbul.

Swedish officials have said that they have made great efforts to meet Turkey’s demands but that they must act under their domestic laws. Last month, a Swedish court ruled that a Turkish journalist sought by Turkey could not be extradited because the Turkish allegations against him were in part political and because he could be persecuted if returned to Turkey.

Mr. Kalin acknowledged those constraints, saying that Turkey had not asked Sweden or Finland “to do anything outside their legal framework.” But he said that Turkey was not in a hurry and could wait until its demands are met.

“We are not in a rush here,” he said. “They are in a rush to join NATO.”