Turkiye, Sweden to hold first security talks since NATO entry, says Turkish source 

Turkiye and Sweden will hold their first meeting on Wednesday addressing a security pact that the sides agreed upon in order to ensure Ankara’s approval of Stockholm’s NATO membership bid, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Tuesday.

Reuters has reported that the meeting will take place during a visit to Ankara by Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, and it carried “special importance” in terms of improving cooperation on terrorism, said the source.

Sweden joined NATO in March. Turkiye approved Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance in January after a more than year-long delay over concerns about Sweden’s stance on groups and individuals that Ankara designates as terrorists, and over an arms embargo that Stockholm later lifted.

As part of the approval, Ankara demanded that Stockholm should amend anti-terrorism laws and crack down on members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) — also designated as a terrorist group by the United States and European Union — as well as a group that it accuses of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016.

The formation of the “Security Compact” was agreed by NATO’s then chief Jens Stoltenberg and Turkish and Swedish leaders at an alliance summit in 2023. The parties had also agreed that Stockholm would present a “roadmap” on counter-terrorism.

“Cooperation in the field of security, especially the fight against terrorism, will be discussed within the framework of the road map,” explained the source, adding that the talks aimed to pave the way for additional steps on the PKK and its Syrian offshoots, as well others.

Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Stenergard will also discuss bilateral ties during the meetings, the source added.

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