Turkish president reiterates Ankara's demands in phone call with Swedish premier

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) - In a phone call with Sweden's premier on Saturday, Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doubled down on Ankara's demands for Stockholm to be admitted into NATO.

Sweden's application for NATO membership was on the agenda in the call with Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, according to a statement by the Turkish Directorate of Communications.

During the talk, Erdogan said Stockholm needed to change its attitude on the PKK terror group and its Syrian branch, the YPG.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and the EU -- has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people.

Ankara also expects Stockholm to its lift arms embargo, as well as its legal and actual restrictions on the Turkish defense industry, Erdogan told Andersson, adding that Türkiye also wants Sweden to fulfill its demands on extradition and deportation.

Erdogan underlined that Türkiye hoped to see binding commitments on all these issues, with concrete and clear implementation.

Sweden, along with Finland, formally applied to join NATO last month, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine that began on Feb. 24.

But Türkiye, a longstanding member of the alliance, has voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting the terrorist groups.