Erdoğan plays down expectations of Sweden joining NATO at July summit, says Türkiye at same distance from both East and West

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday rebuffed growing international pressure on Ankara to ratify Sweden's NATO membership bid before the Western defence alliance meets in July.

"This NATO summit will be held in Vilnius. God willing, I will attend if there's nothing extraordinary. Sweden has expectations. It doesn't mean that we will comply with them," Erdoğan said in remarks released by his office.

Ankara "can not approach positively" Sweden's NATO bid while "terrorists" are protesting on Stockholm streets, Erdoğan was quoted by state news agency Anadolu on his return flight from Azerbaijan on Tuesday.
NATO leaders are to hold their annual summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on July 11 and 12.
Erdoğan's remarks came hours before planned talks with Swedish, Finnish and NATO officials in Ankara.
The Swedish side is to be told not to expect a change in Ankara's stance at the Vilnius summit, Erdoğan added.
Following Russia's full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year, Sweden and Finland applied to join the Western alliance, in a change of stance after decades of neutrality.
Finland was accepted to the alliance in April this year, but Türkiye and Hungary have yet to ratify Sweden's bid.
Türkiye justifies its block on the grounds that Sweden is failing to clamp down on terrorist organizations, and in particular its refusal to extradite people viewed by Ankara as terrorists - mainly referring to banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) insurgents fighting for autonomy in Türkiye's south-east.
Sweden recently passed new anti-terrorism laws, making it illegal to participate in, finance or otherwise support a terrorist organization.
Erdoğan argues the "terrorist" groups must be permanently banned in Sweden.
"If you want us to [positively] respond to Sweden's expectations, Sweden needs to, first of all, wipe out this terrorist organization's [PKK] deeds," Erdoğan said, referring to his recent meeting with NATO Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg in Türkiye.
Stoltenberg said that Sweden had amended its legislation to meet Türkiye's security concerns.

Turkish politics

Türkiye is at the same distance from both East and West, President Erdoğan also said, adding: "Our concern is to be together with all countries in the world with the same understanding."

He also talked about the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, saying that the peace process between both countries will significantly contribute to the normalization of Ankara's relations with Armenia.

Armenian Premier Pashinyan's attendance at the inauguration ceremony in Türkiye was an important step as he accepted the invitation by overcoming many obstacles, he added.

Erdoğan also said that the opening of Zangezur corridor is an issue with Iran, not with Armenia, adding Tehran's attitude upsets both Azerbaijan and Türkiye.

Turkish President Erdoğan also called on Greece to stop armament in Aegean Sea, saying: "We seek to reduce hostilities, not increase them."

On possible talks on Cyprus, Turkish president says new Greek Cypriot gov't in "more peaceful atmosphere," but they need to recognize Northern Cyprus' sovereign rights.