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VILNIUS, July 11 (Reuters) - Washington will move ahead with the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey in consultation with Congress, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday, a day after Ankara gave the green light for Sweden to join NATO. He intends to move forward with that transfer," Sullivan told reporters, without giving any details on the timing. Both Turkish officials and the Biden administration have rejected any suggestion that Ankara's approval of Sweden's NATO accession was being linked to the F-16 sale in the months of talks to address Turkish opposition. Russian officials said Sweden's expected accession to NATO would have "negative implications" for Russia's security and that Moscow would have to respond. TIMING UNCERTAINThe timing of both the F-16 transfer and Sweden's NATO entry remains unclear.

Persons: Jake Sullivan, Sullivan, Joe Biden, Bob Menendez, Biden, Tayyip Erdogan, Camille Grand, Erdogan, Gerard Araud, Sweden's, Peter Szijjarto, Jens Stoltenberg, Steve Holland, Justyna, John Irish, Nick Macfie, Heather Timmons, Devika Organizations: U.S . National, NATO, Lockheed Martin Corp, Senate Foreign Relations, Democrat, Turkish, European Council, Foreign Relations, Twitter, Kurdistan Workers Party, EU, Monday, Finland's, Nordic, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Washington, Turkey, U.S, Ankara, Sweden, Lithuanian, Vilnius, NATO, French, Swedish, United States, Turkey's, Moscow, Hungary, Finland, Ukraine

☆ Erdogan links Sweden's NATO membership to Turkey's EU accession
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Turkey's bid to join the EU has been frozen for years after membership talks were launched in 2005 under Erdogan's first term as prime minister. In a surprise change of tack, Erdogan on Monday linked Ankara's approval of Sweden's NATO bid to Turkey finally joining the EU. Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year, abandoning policies of military non-alignment that had lasted through the decades of the Cold War in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While Finland's NATO membership was green-lighted in April, Turkey and Hungary have yet to clear Sweden's bid. Erdogan also said that an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia would ease Kyiv's NATO membership process.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's, Erdogan's, Erdogan, Huseyin Hayatsever, Ali Kucukgocmen, Toby Chopra, Alex Richardson Organizations: Union, NATO, EU, European Union, Kurdistan Workers Party, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL, Ankara, Turkey, Vilnius, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Hungary, Stockholm, Madrid, United States, Russia

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year, abandoning their policies of military non-alignment that had lasted through the decades of the Cold War in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While Finland's NATO membership was green-lighted in April, Turkey and Hungary have yet to clear Sweden's bid. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson react during a meeting, on the eve of a NATO summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania July 10, 2023. "This has been a good day for Sweden," Kristersson told reporters, saying the joint statement on Monday represented "a very big step" toward the final ratification of Sweden's membership of NATO. After Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday that Budapest would now no longer block Sweden's NATO membership ratification, Turkish approval would remove the last hurdle for Swedish accession to NATO, applications for which must be approved by all members.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Sweden's, Erdogan, Jens Stoltenberg, Ulf Kristersson, Yves Herman / Pool Erdogan, Kristersson, Monday, Stoltenberg, Viktor Orban's, Joe Biden, Niklas Pollard, Andrius, Anna Ringstrom, Johan Ahlander, Ezgi, John Irish, William Maclean, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: NATO, Kurdistan Workers Party, EU, REUTERS, European Union, Finland's, Hungarian, Lockheed Martin Corp, Pawlak, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Ukraine, Sweden, Finland, Turkey, Hungary, Stockholm, Lithuanian, Vilnius, Swedish, Madrid, Ankara, United States, Lithuania, Turkey's, European, Budapest, Washington, Istanbul

CNN —NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that Turkey has agreed to back Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance. Erdoğan has stood in the path of Sweden joining NATO for more than a year over a multitude of concerns. Turkey had resisted Sweden’s bid to join NATO for a long time, giving multiple reasons – including accusations that Swedish officials have been complicit in Islamophobic demonstrations, such as the burning of the Quran. More importantly, Turkey claims that Sweden allows members of recognized Kurdish terror groups to operate, most notably the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). But Erdoğan had faced pressure to step out of the way of Sweden’s NATO bid from his European and American allies.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Erdoğan, Erdogan, ” Stoltenberg, Sweden’s, Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden, Biden “, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Kyriakos, ” Biden, It’s Organizations: CNN, NATO, European Union, Grand, Assembly, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, Air Force, White, Biden Locations: Turkey, Vilnius, Lithuania, Sweden, Lithuanian, Greece, “ Turkey, Mitsotakis

☆ Erdogan says Turkey could approve Sweden’s NATO membership if Europeans ‘open way’ to EU membership
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday introduced a new condition for approving Sweden's membership in NATO, calling on European countries to "open the way" for Turkey to join the European Union. It was the first time that Erdogan linked his country's ambition to join the EU with Sweden's efforts to become a NATO member. The White House readout of the Biden-Erdogan call did not mention the issue of Turkish membership in the EU. Sullivan didn't mention the EU membership issue. Previously non-aligned Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Ulf Kristersson, Jens Stoltenberg, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Joe Biden, Stoltenberg, Dana Spinant, Jake Sullivan, Biden, Sullivan, Vilnius —, Paul Levin, Levin, Tobias Billström, Billström Organizations: Swedish, NATO, Monday, European Union, U.S, EU, Biden, Institute for Turkish Studies, Stockholm University, SVT, Kurdistan Workers ' Party Locations: Vilnius, VILNIUS, Lithuania, Turkey, Lithuania's, Sweden, Ankara, Istanbul, Finland, Swedish, NATO, Madrid, Cyprus, Stockholm, Sweden's, United States, Turkish, Kurdistan, Hungary, Ukraine

☆ NATO: Comments from Biden and Erdogan threaten to overshadow summit -- and help Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

On Monday morning, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that Sweden’s membership of NATO should be linked to Turkey’s membership of the European Union. And the Turkish president, officials are aware, is very good at using any leverage he has to extract things he wants from his Western allies. Erdogan, European officials have repeatedly said, knew that he had Brussels over a barrel as he could effectively “flood” Europe with refugees at will. It is therefore a headache, but not a huge shock, that Erdogan is using a key international summit to play his best hand. NATO, remarkably, has remained united for most of the war and has gone beyond what most expected was possible.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ” Erdogan, Erdogan, Zelensky, Ozan, Putin, Christine Olsson, Joe Biden’s, “, ”, –, Biden – Organizations: CNN, NATO, European Union, West, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, Kremlin, Kurdistan Workers ' Party, TT, Agency, AFP, Getty Locations: Lithuanian, Vilnius, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Brussels, Ankara, Turkish, Syria, geopolitically, Europe, Kremlin

☆ NATO's Stoltenberg says Turkey agrees to move ahead with Sweden's NATO bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VILNIUS, July 10 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to forward to parliament Sweden's bid to join the NATO military alliance, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius. Stoltenberg declined to give a date for when Sweden's accession would be ratified by the Turkish parliament, the grand national assembly, which would decide on the exact timing. Applications to the alliance must be approved by all NATO members and while Finland's was given the go-ahead in April, Turkey and Hungary have held off on clearing Sweden's bid. Stockholm has been working hard at its bid ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, together with the United States and its allies, urging Turkey to abandon its opposition. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday that Budapest would not block Sweden's NATO membership ratification.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Sweden's, Jens Stoltenberg, Erdogan, Stoltenberg, Finland's, Viktor Orban's, John Irish, Sabine Siebold, Johan Ahlander, Anna Ringstrom, Justyna Pawlak, Niklas Pollard Organizations: NATO, Kurdistan Workers Party, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Vilnius, Sweden, Turkish, Finland, Ukraine, Turkey, Hungary, Stockholm, United States, Hungarian, Budapest

While NATO members agree Kyiv cannot join during the war, they have disagreed over how quickly it could happen afterwards and under what conditions. Negotiations have also focused on what conditions Ukraine would have to meet to join NATO and how its progress should be tracked, diplomats say. "I am absolutely certain that we will have unity and a strong message on Ukraine," Stoltenberg told reporters. Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February last year prompted Nordic neighbours Finland and Sweden to abandon decades of military non-alignment and apply to join NATO. Sweden, backed by Stoltenberg and many NATO members, said it had kept all its undertakings to Turkey on the issue.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Zelenskiy, General Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Maria Zakharova, Tayyip Erdogan, Ulf Kristersson, Erdogan, Kristersson, Ronald Popeski, Lidia Kelly, Stephen Coates Organizations: NATO, Diplomats, Alliance, Twitter, Russian Foreign, Nordic, Kurdistan Workers Party, EU, European Union, Thomson Locations: VILNIUS, Vilnius, Sweden, Lithuanian, Ukraine, Moscow, Eastern Europe, Russia, United States, Germany, NATO, Finland, Turkey, Ankara, Swedish

Turkey, along with Hungary, has been a stumbling block to Sweden's bid, which requires unanimous approval by all NATO members. Biden "conveyed his desire to welcome Sweden into NATO as soon as possible," the White House said in a statement. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he would convene a meeting between Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Vilnius on Monday. While Finland's NATO membership was green-lighted in April, Turkey and Hungary have yet to clear Sweden's bid. During their call, Biden and Erdogan also discussed the delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, and Ukraine's aim to join NATO, according to the Turkish presidency's readout.

Persons: Joe Biden, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Biden, Jens Stoltenberg, Ulf Kristersson, Ezgi Erkoyun, Kanishka Singh, Hugh Lawson, Peter Graff, Leslie Adler Organizations: NATO, Kurdistan Workers Party, White, Monday, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL, WASHINGTON, Sweden, Turkey, Hungary, Stockholm, Ankara, Turkish, Vilnius, Lithuania, Swedish, Finland, Ukraine

Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, said Ukraine will not be voted into NATO membership at the summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, but he encouraged Ukraine's President Volodomyr Zelenskiy to attend to discuss the matter. Also topping Biden's agenda in Vilnius will be Sweden, whose accession into NATO has been blocked by Turkey. Sullivan said Sweden will eventually gain NATO membership despite Turkey's opposition. He said Biden will discuss Sweden with Erdogan at some point during the summit but did not know the format for the talks. Biden leaves on Sunday for London, the first stop on a three-nation trip centered around the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital.

Persons: Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan, Volodomyr Zelenskiy, Biden, Sullivan, Denys Shmyhal, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Rishi Sunak, King Charles, Nandita Bose, Steve Holland, Chris Reese, Alistair Bell Organizations: NATO, Kyiv, United States, Kurdistan Workers Party, London, British, Windsor Castle, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Vilnius, Lithuania, Europe, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Stockholm, Lithuanian, Helsinki, London

☆ Biden shows support for Sweden's NATO bid in talks with PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Steve Holland | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, July 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden gave a show of support for Sweden's entry into NATO on Wednesday in talks with Sweden's prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, amid efforts to overcome opposition from fellow NATO ally Turkey. Biden, seated next to Kristersson in the Oval Office, told reporters he wanted to reiterate U.S. support for Sweden's accession to NATO. Kristersson thanked Biden for the invitation and said Sweden “highly appreciates” Biden’s support for NATO membership. Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year, ditching long-held policies of military non-alignment after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Sweden, Turkey and NATO will meet in Brussels on Thursday to try to find a solution ahead of next week's NATO summit.

Persons: Joe Biden, Ulf Kristersson, Biden, Kristersson, Sweden “, Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Steve Holland, Johan Ahlander, Heather Timmons, Bill Berkrot, Alistair Bell Organizations: NATO, Turkey, Kurdistan Workers Party, Thomson Locations: Vilnius, Lithuania, Turkey, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Hungary, Stockholm, United States, Brussels, Washington

☆ Sweden will not get Turkey's nod for NATO bid unless it stops sheltering 'terrorists' -Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ANKARA, July 3 (Reuters) - Turkey will not lift its opposition to Sweden joining NATO unless it stops harbouring groups Ankara considers to be terrorists, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday. Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year, ditching long-held policies of military non-alignment after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Applications for membership must be approved by all NATO members, but Turkey and Hungary have yet to clear Sweden's bid. Turkey expects Sweden to stop harbouring members of both groups, Erdogan said in a speech after a cabinet meeting. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg last month said that Sweden and Turkey would convene a high level meeting in Brussels on the possible accession of Sweden to NATO before the alliance's summit in Vilnius this month.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Jens Stoltenberg, Eid, Huseyin Hayatsever, Ezgi, William Maclean Organizations: NATO, Kurdistan Workers ' Party, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Turkey, Sweden, Ankara, Finland, Ukraine, Hungary, Kurdistan, Stockholm, Madrid, Brussels, Vilnius

☆ Erdogan tells NATO Sweden must stop Kurdish protests
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ANKARA, June 25 (Reuters) - Sweden must stop protests by supporters of outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Stockholm to get a green light on its NATO membership bid, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told NATO's Secretary-General in a phone call on Sunday. Erdogan told Stoltenberg that Turkey had a constructive attitude, but Sweden's change of terrorism laws to meet demands from Ankara was "meaningless" while PKK supporters hold protests in the country, the Turkish presidency said in a statement. Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, NATO's, Erdogan, Stoltenberg, Huseyin Hayatsever, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: Kurdistan Workers ' Party, NATO, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Sweden, Kurdistan, Stockholm, Turkey, Ankara

☆ Time has come for Turkey to ratify Sweden's NATO bid - Swedish minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

STOCKHOLM, June 21 (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament should begin to ratify Sweden's bid to join NATO because Stockholm has now met its obligations under an accord with Ankara on joining the Western military alliance, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Wednesday. Last year Sweden and Finland both reversed decades of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined NATO in April but Turkey continues to block Sweden's membership citing security concerns. This month Ankara said Sweden must crack down on anti-Turkey protests in Stockholm before it can receive the green light to join NATO. Hungary has also still to ratify Sweden's NATO bid.

Persons: Tobias Billstrom, Billstrom, Tayyip Erdogan, Niklas Pollard, Simon Johnson, Gareth Jones Organizations: NATO, Western, Reuters, Kurdistan Workers Party, Sweden's NATO, Thomson Locations: STOCKHOLM, Stockholm, Ankara, Swedish, Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Turkey, Vilnius, Madrid, Hungary

☆ Two local officials in northeast Syria killed by Turkish drone, Kurdish authorities say
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

QAMISHLI, Syria, June 20 (Reuters) - Two local civilian officials and their driver were killed in Syria's Kurdish-run northeast on Tuesday when their car was targeted by a Turkish drone strike, regional Kurdish authorities said. Kurdish medical sources and a security source said a Turkish drone had targeted their car in the village of Tal Shaeer in northeast Syria. It named the figure as Ridvan Ulugana and said he had been active in operations targeting the Turkish military. It did not say that any civilians were killed, or mention Tal Shaeer. (This story has been corrected to fix Chamoun's first name and job title in paragraph 2)Reporting by Orhan Qereman in Qamishli, Syria; Daren Butler and Huseyin Hayatsever in Turkey; writing by Maya Gebeily; editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Yusra Darwish, Liman Shawish, Gabriel Chamoun, Tal Rifaat, Tal Shaeer, Ulugana, Orhan Qereman, Daren Butler, Huseyin Hayatsever, Maya Gebeily, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: MIT, Turkish, Kurdistan Workers ' Party, European Union, Syrian Democratic Forces, Islamic, Thomson Locations: QAMISHLI, Syria, Turkish, Kurdish, Qamishli, Tal Shaeer, Tal, Turkey, Syria's, Ankara, United States, Islamic State

Erdogan spoke as officials from Turkey, Sweden, Finland and NATO met on Wednesday in Ankara for talks to try to overcome Turkish objections holding up Sweden's NATO membership bid. The parties agreed to continue working on the "prospective concrete steps" for Sweden's NATO membership, the statement said. In justifying its objections to Swedish membership, Turkey has accused Stockholm of harbouring members of Kurdish militant groups it considers to be terrorists. While he was having talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg earlier this month, a similar protest was held in Stockholm, Erdogan said. He added that he also told Stoltenberg Sweden should prevent such actions to secure Turkey's approval for its NATO membership.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Umit, Erdogan, Oscar Stenstrom, Stenstrom, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Huseyin Hayatsever, Simon Johnson, Johan Ahlander, Niklas Pollard, Daren Butler, Nick Macfie, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: REUTERS, NATO, Wednesday, Turkish, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Kurdistan Workers Party, European Union, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, ANKARA, Sweden, Stockholm, Azerbaijan, Finland, Madrid, Ukraine, Hungary, extraditions, Stoltenberg Sweden, Vilnius

☆ Turkey won't back Swedish NATO bid unless it stops anti-Turkish protests -Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Erdogan made his comments before officials from Turkey, Sweden, Finland and NATO met on Wednesday in Ankara for talks to try to overcome Turkish objections that have delayed Sweden's NATO membership bid. In justifying its objections to Swedish membership, Turkey has accused Stockholm of harbouring members of Kurdish militant groups it considers to be terrorists. On the day he was having talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg earlier this month, a similar protest was held in Stockholm, Erdogan said. He added that he also told Stoltenberg Sweden should prevent such actions to secure Turkey's approval for its NATO membership. After meeting Erdogan, Stoltenberg said a deal on Sweden joining the alliance could be reached before the NATO summit in Vilnius next month.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, Erdogan, Jens Stoltenberg, Stoltenberg, Huseyin Hayatsever, Daren Butler, Nick Macfie, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: NATO, Wednesday, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Kurdistan Workers Party, European Union, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Sweden, Ankara, Turkey, Stockholm, Azerbaijan, Finland, Hungary, Madrid, extraditions, Stoltenberg Sweden, Vilnius

☆ What Turkey’s new cabinet says about where the country is headed
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Gul Tuysuz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The cabinet appointments hint at a return to orthodox economic policy while holding course on foreign policy as the president heads into his third decade in power. Erdogan’s unorthodox economic policies over the past few years have led to a cost-of-living crisis and a plummeting Turkish lira. Shadow diplomatThe new foreign minister is a well-known figure to Turks and international players who have negotiated with Turkey of late. Hakan Fidan, who had served as head of Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT) since 2010, has been in every room and every discussion that has been pivotal to Turkish foreign policy over the last few years. He’s been ever-present but rarely heard – a shadow diplomat in Erdogan’s foreign policy arsenal who has charted rough waters in Syria, Libya and beyond.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, –, Nureddin Nebati, ” Simsek, Erdogan, Simsek, Mehmet Celik, Cevdet Yilmaz, Omer Bolat, ” Celik, Hakan Fidan, He’s, Fidan, Ibrahim Kalin, “, ” Fidan, ”, Suleyman Soylu, Istanbul Ali Yerlikaya, Hulusi Akar, Mevlut Cavusoglu, They’ve Organizations: Istanbul CNN —, Reuters, Daily, Trade, CNN, NATO, Turkish Intelligence Agency, MIT, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, EU, Defense, Development Party, AK Party Locations: Istanbul, Turkish Republic, Turkish, “ Turkey, Daily Sabah, Turkey, Syria, Libya, Greece, West, Celik, Damascus, Ankara, Sweden, Yerlikaya

☆ Ukraine war live updates: Russia says it thwarted large-scale offensive in Donetsk; Ukraine says it is moving forward into Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Turkey, Finland and Sweden will meet on June 12 to discuss Stockholm's bid to join the NATO military alliance, which has so far been stalled by Ankara's objections, according to a NATO statement released on Sunday. The announcement followed a meeting of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and newly reelected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul. Finland and Sweden renounced their long-standing policy of political neutrality following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and jointly applied for NATO membership in June last year. Finland was accepted and joined the military organization in April. Stockholm's accession has been delayed by Turkish concerns that Sweden harbors militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which Ankara, the United States, the EU and others designated as a terrorist organization.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Stockholm's Organizations: NATO, Kurdistan Workers ' Party Locations: Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Istanbul, Ukraine, Ankara, United States, EU

☆ Stoltenberg says Swedish NATO deal can be reached after more talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Burcu Karakas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISTANBUL, June 4 (Reuters) - An agreement on Sweden joining NATO could be reached in time for a summit of the alliance next month in Lithuania, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday after meeting Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. He also said officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland would meet later this month for talks to try to overcome objections from Turkey and Hungary that have delayed Sweden's NATO membership bid. Stoltenberg's talks in Istanbul with Erdogan took place a week after Erdogan extended his two-decade rule in an election. Stoltenberg told Reuters in an interview it was important to use the remaining time before the NATO summit in Vilnius in July to get a deal. In its objections to Swedish membership, Turkey has said Stockholm harbours members of militant groups it considers to be terrorists.

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, Tayyip Erdogan, Stoltenberg's, Erdogan, Stoltenberg, Huseyin Hayatsever, Andrew Gray, Sabine Siebold, Hugh Lawson, Barbara Lewis Organizations: NATO, Reuters, Atlantic Treaty Organization, Kurdistan Workers ' Party, Thomson Locations: ISTANBUL, Sweden, Lithuania, Turkey, Finland, Hungary, Istanbul, Russia, Ukraine, Vilnius, Stockholm, Ankara, Brussels

☆ Factbox: Turkey's new government: key figures in Erdogan's cabinet
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Following are descriptions of key figures in the cabinet:MEHMET SIMSEK - FINANCE MINISTERFormer economy chief Simsek has been appointed as treasury and finance minister. He was highly regarded by financial markets when he served as finance minister and deputy prime minister between 2009 and 2018. HAKAN FIDAN - FOREIGN MINISTERFidan was appointed as foreign minister, replacing Mevlut Cavusoglu, who was one of the longest serving top Turkish diplomats. ALI YERLIKAYA - INTERIOR MINISTERAli Yerlikaya was appointed as interior minister and replaced Suleyman Soylu, who kept his position since 2018. Yerlikaya, 55, served as governor of provinces of Gaziantep, Tekirdag, Agri and Sirnak before.

Persons: Tayyip Erdogan, MEHMET SIMSEK, Simsek, Merrill Lynch, HAKAN FIDAN, Fidan, Mevlut Cavusoglu, Erdogan, YASAR, Yasar Guler, Hulusi Akar, CEVDET YILMAZ, Cevdet Yilmaz, Ali Yerlikaya, Suleyman Soylu, Yerlikaya, Burcu Karakas, Huseyin Hayatsever, Jonathan Spicer Organizations: FINANCE, U.S, Embassy, National Intelligence Organisation, MIT, Turkish Army, Turkish Development and Cooperation Agency, Kurdistan Workers Party, AK, Turkish, Commission, ALI, Ece Toksabay, Thomson Locations: ANKARA, Ankara, Oslo, Syria, Iraq, Istanbul, Yerlikaya, Gaziantep, Tekirdag

☆ NATO Turkey: Alliance is in a race against time to save itself from a major embarrassment
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Luke Mcgee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —NATO officials are in a race against time to avoid the embarrassment of seeing the alliance miss its own stated aim of admitting Sweden to the alliance by July 11. Sweden has a permanent delegation at NATO and is considered a close partner to the alliance, meaning joining should be relatively straightforward. The second is that Turkey isn’t the only fly in the ointment: Hungary also objects to Sweden joining NATO. Sweden joining NATO would be the latest in a long list of good news stories for the alliance since Russia invaded Ukraine. That’s precisely why officials are so concerned about Turkey vetoing Sweden’s accession on NATO’s own timetable.

Persons: it’s, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s, Christine Olsson, Erdogan, Putin’s, Putin, ”, “ Erdogan, Yves Herman, –, Emmanuel Macron, Turkey vetoing Organizations: CNN, NATO, Russia, Kurdistan Workers ’ Party, Turkish, Reuters, TT, Agency, AFP, Sweden –, European Union, Diplomats, US, EU Locations: Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, East, Europe, Ankara, Turkish, Stockholm, Lithuanian, Vilnius –, Atlantic, North Korea, China, ”, Eastern European, Brussels, Hungary, United States, United Kingdom, Asia

☆ Turkey election 2023: What's at stake in the runoff?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The election takes place three months after earthquakes in southeast Turkey killed more than 50,000 people. WHAT'S AT STAKE FOR TURKEY ... [1/2] People walk next to posters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, ahead of the May 28 presidential runoff vote, in Istanbul, Turkey, May 25, 2023. Seeking a runoff boost from nationalist voters, Kilicdaroglu has in the last two weeks sharpened his anti-immigrant tone and promised to repatriate migrants. Pollsters later pointed to an unexpected surge in nationalist support at the ballot box to explain the result.

We are not bound by the West’s sanctions,” Erdogan told CNN’s Becky Anderson. APBy contrast, Erdogan has doubled down on his relationship with Putin – and he thinks the West should follow suit. “This was possible because of our special relationship with President Putin,” he told CNN, referring to the grain deal. In his interview with CNN, Erdogan tackled another key flashpoint in Turkish tensions with the West: Sweden’s accession to NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tells CNN's Becky Anderson, left, he expects voters who value stability and confidence to back him in the May 28 runoff vote.

We are experiencing the result of this marathon with you tonight," Erdogan, 69, told thousands of flag-waving supporters from the balcony of his party's headquarters. But Erdogan, a veteran of a dozen election victories, emerged comfortably ahead of Kilicdaroglu, though just short of the majority needed to win. The outcome reflects the strong support Erdogan still commands, especially in religiously conservative regions where voters long felt marginalised by a once-dominant secular elite. Over two decades, Erdogan has redrawn Turkey's domestic, economic, security and foreign policy, rivalling historic leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who founded modern Turkey a century ago. Erdogan's government said the purge was justified by threats from coup supporters, as well as Islamic State and the PKK.

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