Leader of the Turkish opposition Republican People's Party and former presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu as well as the chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party, Devlet Bahceli, said on Tuesday that they opposed Ankara's decision to ratify Sweden's NATO bid
ISTANBUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th July, 2023) Leader of the Turkish opposition Republican People's Party and former presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu as well as the chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party, Devlet Bahceli, said on Tuesday that they opposed Ankara's decision to ratify Sweden's NATO bid.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to transmit the accession protocol for Sweden to parliament and work closely with lawmakers to ensure ratification. Stoltenberg, however, gave no further details as to the timeline of the process.
"Turkey is a NATO member state, and the decision must be made unanimously. They said they did not accept Sweden as a member of NATO because this country was protecting terrorists and accommodating them on its territory. They used expressions like 'It (Sweden) would never be acceded to NATO.' Sweden did not budge. They burned our holy book � the authorities did not show enough response. And then what happened? (US President Joe) Biden called Erdogan, and he flipped around," Kilicdaroglu was quoted as saying by Turkish broadcaster NTV.
Kilicdaroglu, during his own presidential campaign, promised to arrange visa-free access to the European Union for Turkish citizens and to ratify Sweden's NATO bid.
Bahceli, in turn, said that Turkey's complaints against Sweden were "valid" and "legitimate."
"It is well known that Sweden stubbornly denies to distance itself from terrorism. Moreover, the Swedish government authorizes foul acts of vandalism against the Quran and then publishes mock statements of alleged condemnation. The essence and the purpose of NATO's open door policy cannot be more important than our national security and sovereign rights," Bahceli was quoted as saying by NTV.
Bahceli wondered how Turkey would react to being in the same defense bloc as a country that supports terrorists that threaten Ankara's security.
"How will we close our eyes to this helplessness? How will we digest that? Will we let pass this humiliation only because the US wagged its finger at us over F-16 supplies? Sweden is the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party)'s hiding place in Europe, and Stockholm is the Qandil Mountains (area of Kurdistan Region near the Iraq-Iran border where leaders of PKK hide)," he said.
Bahceli added that the Swedish government would be required to radically change its politics and carry out reforms.
"Anyway, it is the president's decision. The Sweden military already de facto participate in NATO's operations," he said.
During talks with Erdogan in Vilnius, Sweden agreed to actively support efforts to reinvigorate Turkey's EU accession process, including modernization of the EU-Turkey Customs Union and visa liberalization.
