U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Jeffry Flake speaks in Washington, DC, U.S., May 3, 2023.
Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
The U.S. ambassador to Ankara, Jeffrey Flake, said the U.S. still wants Sweden to join NATO by July, despite Turkey’s concerns.
“We want Sweden to become a member of NATO as soon as possible,” Flake told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Friday, adding that Sweden has taken several steps to address Turkey’s security concerns.
“We fully expect and hope that by the time Vilnius comes… Sweden will be a member.”
Earlier in the week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday rejected mounting international pressure to meet at a defense alliance meeting on July 11-12. Ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership ahead of the Vilnius summit in 2023.
Officials from Sweden, Turkey, Finland and NATO met in Ankara in hopes of alleviating Turkish objections.
“Sweden has expectations. That doesn’t mean we will comply with them,” Erdogan said. According to Turkish state media Anadolu. Türkiye, Finland and Sweden signed an agreement last year During the NATO summit in Madriddedicated to addressing Türkiye’s security needs.
Ankara’s objections are mixed, but center on Sweden’s support for Kurdish groups that Turkey considers terrorists, and the arms embargo imposed by Sweden and Finland, along with other EU countries, on Turkey to combat Kurdish militias in Syria.
Erdogan also wants Sweden to crush protests against his government. The Swedish capital has seen protests against Turkey for months, and earlier this year some demonstrators came under heavy criticism for burning Muslim holy books, the Koran.
“In order for us to comply with these expectations, first of all, Sweden must do its part,” Erdogan said.
Before the most recent election in May, Turkish presidential spokesman said in March Ankara “opens the door” to Stockholm’s proposal to join the military alliance “provided it shows willingness and determination”.
US President Joe Biden met with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday, stressing their “shared desire to welcome Sweden into the alliance as soon as possible”, white house statement explain.
“Obviously, our relationship is based on NATO. I think that relationship will continue to be that way,” Flake said of the U.S.-Turkish relationship, emphasizing their security and commercial partnership.
“On the commercial side, we (already) have a healthy balance of trade, about $33 billion as of last year. This number is increasing every year,” he said.
turkish leaders have Flake that was criticized before Thanks to the visit to Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Erdogan defeated the opposition coalition’s presidential candidate in recent elections. Flake described his relationship with Erdogan as “in a good place” on Friday.
He added, “It’s been a challenging relationship at times. It’s true, but we have a good security, business and people relationship with Turkey.”
—CNBC’s Natasha Turak contributed to this article.