Erdoğan to meet Swedish PM Kristersson in Türkiye to discuss extraditions and NATO bid

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said he will meet Sweden's new prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, to discuss Stockholm's bid to join NATO as well as the extradition of people having links to the FETO and PKK terror groups.

Sweden and fellow Nordic country Finland launched their bids to join NATO in May in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but they ran into objections from Turkey.

Ankara accuses them of harbouring those accused of involvement in a 2016 coup attempt or having links to the bloody-minded PKK terror group.

Erdoğan said Kristersson, who took office on Monday, sided with the fight against terrorism, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported.

"He has statements such as 'we should not be harbouring terrorism and terrorists'," Erdoğan said. "Of course, we will have tested their sincerity on this issue in the meeting that we will hold."

Erdoğan made his comments to Turkish media on a return flight from a trip to Azerbaijan on Thursday.

Speaking in Helsinki on Friday after a meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom welcomed the discussions.

"In the fullness of time, we believe that everything will lead to...the ratification of and by the Turkish parliament of the application of Finland and Sweden to join NATO," Billstrom told reporters.

He said the new Swedish government would continue to implement the trilateral agreement struck in Madrid to smooth the path into NATO for Sweden and Finland.

"Among other things, countering terrorism will be a priority for Sweden before and after our accession to NATO," he said.

Erdoğan has said the Turkish parliament would not approve the Nordic countries' NATO bids if they do not extradite the people Ankara has requested.

Sweden has taken "concrete action" to address Türkiye's concerns over its NATO membership bid, Stockholm told Ankara in a letter dated Oct. 6 and seen by Reuters.