Erdogan on Monday made a surprising shift in strategy by tying Ankara’s support of Sweden’s NATO application to Turkey’s eventual EU membership Image Courtesy Reuters

In an unexpected move, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan stated on Monday that the EU should pave the way for Ankara’s admission before Turkey’s parliament supports Sweden’s application to join the NATO military alliance.

After membership negotiations began in 2005, during Erdogan’s first term as prime minister, Turkey’s application to join the EU was put on hold for many years.

After a failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016, relations between Ankara and the bloc’s members worsened for a while but have since generally mended. Ankara, a NATO partner, is important to the bloc, notably in terms of migration.

Erdogan on Monday made a surprising shift in strategy by tying Ankara’s support of Sweden’s NATO application to Turkey’s eventual EU membership.

“I am calling from here on these countries that are making Turkey wait at the door of the European Union for more than 50 years,” Erdogan said, speaking ahead of his departure for the NATO summit in Vilnius.

“First, come and open the way for Turkey at the European Union and then we will open the way for Sweden, just as we did for Finland,” he said, adding that he would repeat his call during the summit.

In reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland submitted applications to join NATO last year, ending decades-long military non-alignment policy.

While Turkey and Hungary approved Finland’s application to join NATO in April, Sweden’s application has not yet received their approval. At the conference in Vilnius, Stockholm has been attempting to join the group.

Erdogan stated that the agreement struck at the alliance’s summit in Madrid last summer was a condition for Sweden’s membership, and he added that no one should anticipate concessions from Ankara.

According to Ankara, Sweden has not done enough to combat those it views as terrorists, mostly members of the PKK, an outlawed group that Turkey, the EU, and the US all label as terrorist organisations.

Erdogan added that a resolution to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia would facilitate Kyiv’s application for NATO membership.

(With agency inputs)