Sweden’s foreign and justice ministers postponed a key security meeting with Türkiye in Ankara after a technical problem forced their airplane to return to Stockholm, Swedish officials announced Wednesday.
The crew and passengers were not in any immediate danger and a new date will be set for the meeting, Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard and Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer had been due to hold their first meeting with Turkish officials addressing a security pact agreed to ensure Ankara’s approval of Stockholm’s NATO membership bid.
Türkiye approved Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance in January after a more than yearlong delay over concerns about Sweden’s stance on terrorist groups like the PKK and over an arms embargo that Stockholm later lifted.
As part of the approval, Ankara demanded that Stockholm amend counterterrorism laws and crack down on members of the PKK, which has led a bloody terror campaign against the Turkish state since 1984 and is labeled a terrorist group by the United States and European Union, as well as the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which orchestrated a defeated coup in July 2016 that claimed at least 255 lives.
The “Security Compact” formation was agreed upon by NATO’s then-chief Jens Stoltenberg and Turkish and Swedish leaders at an alliance summit in 2023. The parties had also agreed that Stockholm would present a “roadmap” on counterterrorism.
Sweden joined NATO in March.
Cooperation in the field of security, especially the fight against terrorism, would be discussed within the framework of the road map, according to a Turkish diplomatic source Tuesday, who said the talks aimed to pave the way for additional steps on the PKK and its Syrian offshoots, as well others.
