“Issue of terrorism non-negotiable for Türkiye”

The issue of terrorism is non-negotiable for Türkiye, the country’s communications director has stressed as Sweden’s bid to join NATO continues.

“Sweden needs to make a concrete and permanent policy change on terrorism,” Fahrettin Altun wrote on Sunday in an article in the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter.

“Extraditing terrorists to Türkiye and preventing terrorist organisations from operating on Swedish soil are our sine qua non,” he added.

Altun stressed that if Ankara’s concerns are not addressed, there would be no way to “convince” the country to accept the two Nordic nations’ NATO accession, adding: “Türkiye is not the old Türkiye.”

“Now, there is a Türkiye that protects its interests at all costs and demands eye-level relations with every interlocutor on every platform. Everyone should get used to this fact,” he asserted.

In late May, Türkiye hosted consultations with Swedish and Finnish delegations in Ankara on their NATO applications. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the meetings had not been “at the desired level”.