Sweden's NATO entry at discretion of Turkish parliament: President Erdogan

Sweden's accession to NATO is at the discretion of the Turkish parliament, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

Erdogan talked to the press on his presidential plane on Thursday, returning from a two-day NATO summit in Lithuania's capital Vilnius.

"The authority to approve Sweden's accession protocols is the Turkish Grand National Assembly. There is a process running now," he said.

"Our parliament will follow the steps taken and will make the right decision in line with the interests of our country."

On Monday, ahead of the NATO summit, Erdogan agreed to forward to the Turkish parliament Sweden's bid to join NATO following a trilateral meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership shortly after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022. Although Türkiye approved Finland's membership to NATO, it is waiting for Sweden to fulfil its commitments not to provide shelter to terrorists and supporters of terrorists and not to greenlight their actions.

"Again, as a result of our efforts, the decision to appoint a special coordinator for combating terrorism was announced for the first time in the history of the alliance."

"Sweden's NATO membership was one of the issues highlighted in the context of the summit. Our principled stance on this issue has been clear from the very beginning. We continued our policy here as well," Erdogan said.

EU membership

Turning to Türkiye's EU membership process, Erdogan said: "There is a positive opinion about the revitalisation of our EU membership process."

"We will accelerate the negotiations for updating the Customs Union, which will have a multiplier effect on the Turkish economy. I believe that we will make progress in visa liberalisation as well."

Türkiye applied for EU membership in 1987 and has been a candidate country since 1999. Negotiations for full membership started in October 2005 but have stalled in recent years due to political hurdles erected by some countries.

Erdogan said his chief adviser Akif Cagatay Kilic went to Brussels to discuss the issues, adding: "He will discuss both the Customs Union and visa liberalisation issues. I believe these will be in favor of Türkiye."

Türkiye always keeps its promises, Erdogan said, adding that Ankara wants to soon see the "tangible results" of talks with the EU carried out on a win-win basis.

Ties with the Gulf

Türkiye wants to further strengthen its ties with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), President Erdogan also said.

"We have hope in this visit. I sent my friends ahead of time. They visited Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE. We will visit (these countries) with a delegation."

"We would like to further strengthen all kinds of relations between us by traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE," he told reporters.

Erdogan is expected to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE on July 17-19.

Ahead of Erdogan, Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek paid a visit to Qatar on July 9 to discuss economic cooperation.

"During the preliminary visits, our friends gave certain information. During our visit, we will have the opportunity to personally see and experience the support they will give Türkiye."

"In our previous meetings, they said: 'We are ready to make significant investments in Türkiye.' We will finalize this through this visit," Erdogan said, adding that these investments could be in Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or the UAE.