Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is ready to accept Sweden into NATO. At Wednesday's press conference, he announced that the country will now proceed to the next stage of ratification – but not immediately.
The Swedish Government's hope has always been that the vote on membership will take place as early as this week, as the Turkish Parliament closes on 15 July. But according to the president, the process will have to wait until after the summer break, i.e. October 1.
"When Parliament reopens, I am sure they will put this at the top of their agenda. After that, the case comes back to me for approval. We will of course make sure that the process is then concluded as soon as possible," Erdogan said.
Documents to be submitted
Before Turkey's parliament can vote on membership, Sweden must also submit a kind of action plan to Turkey, Erdogan said:
– Sweden will present a "roadmap" to combat terrorism, which we will then submit to Parliament. On Monday, we came up with a proposal containing seven points.
The president has previously been clear that the Koran burnings cannot be accepted by Swedish authorities, something he again highlighted during his press conference.
While continuing to emphasize the importance of working against Islamophobia, he also says that it has been made clear to him that the Swedish government has not approved the Koran burnings, and what their attitude to them is.
Questions remain
What a months-long wait for ratification could mean is still unclear. According to SVT's security reporter John Granlund, Turkey's yes is not yet completely certain.
"In the speech, Erdogan mentioned that this period may be used to follow how Sweden behaves on the sensitive issues. There may be new Koran burnings and new protests, where we do not yet know what this could lead to.