NATO chief lauds Sweden for addressing Turkey’s terror concerns
Sweden has faced Turkish opposition to its effort to join NATO because of what Turkey perceives as Sweden's support of Kurdish "terrorists."
Efforts to overcome Turkey’s threats to block Sweden's and Finland’s NATO membership remain in high gear as the alliance’s chief met Swedish leaders in Stockholm today.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Sweden had taken important steps to meet Turkey’s demands to end what Ankara calls support for “terrorists.”
But at a news conference in Helsinki on Sunday, he appeared to concede that the crisis was unlikely to be resolved in time for the NATO summit in Madrid that is scheduled to be held at the end of June. “The summit in Madrid was a never a deadline,” he said.
Turkey wants both countries to ban the activities of groups and individuals affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is waging an armed campaign for Kurdish self-rule and commands strong sympathy among millions of Kurds in Europe.
