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Erdogan Announces New Meeting on Sweden's NATO Bid

19 October 2022, Türkiye, Ankara: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes part in a parliamentary bloc meeting of his Justice and Development Party. (Turkish Presidency/dpa)
19 October 2022, Türkiye, Ankara: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes part in a parliamentary bloc meeting of his Justice and Development Party. (Turkish Presidency/dpa)
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Erdogan Announces New Meeting on Sweden's NATO Bid

19 October 2022, Türkiye, Ankara: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes part in a parliamentary bloc meeting of his Justice and Development Party. (Turkish Presidency/dpa)
19 October 2022, Türkiye, Ankara: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes part in a parliamentary bloc meeting of his Justice and Development Party. (Turkish Presidency/dpa)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said another meeting on Sweden's NATO membership bid would be held later this month after hosting Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Ankara on Tuesday.

Kristersson was hoping to persuade Türkiye to drop its opposition to Sweden joining the US-led military alliance, with Ankara accusing Stockholm and Finland of harboring outlawed Kurdish militants.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the Nordic neighbors abandoned their long-held policy of non-alignment and applied to join NATO, said AFP.

Erdogan -- who is seeking re-election next year -- is in a position of strength, having persuaded Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to stop blockading Ukraine's grain exports.

After meeting Kristersson at the presidential palace in the Turkish capital, Erdogan said a joint meeting would be organized in Stockholm later this month, without specifying the date.

The Turkish leader said he "sincerely wished" for Stockholm to join NATO, but added: "We understand their security concerns, and we want Sweden to respond to ours."

Kristersson described his meeting with Erdogan as "very productive".

"Sweden will live up to all the obligations made to Türkiye in countering the terrorist threat," he said.

The Swedish parliament on Tuesday said it would vote next week on a constitutional amendment that would make it possible to strengthen anti-terror laws, a key demand from Türkiye.

The amendment will make it possible to introduce new laws to "limit freedom of association of groups involved in terrorism", the parliament said in a statement, adding that the vote was scheduled for November 16.

- 'Cautious optimism' -
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Ankara last week to press the case for Sweden and Finland, saying their accession would "send a clear message to Russia".

Stoltenberg stressed the two had agreed on concessions to Türkiye in June, which included addressing its request for "terror suspects" to be deported or extradited.

Writing in Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet on Monday, Erdogan's advisor Fahrettin Altun voiced "cautious optimism" that the new right-wing government in Stockholm would take "concrete measures" to meet Ankara's concerns.

Türkiye accuses Sweden in particularly of leniency towards the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and its Syrian offshoot, the People's Protection Units (YPG).

Ankara says it provided Sweden and Finland in June with a list of people it wanted extradited.

Since then, Sweden has authorized one extradition for fraud. Both Stockholm and Helsinki say that extradition decisions are made by the courts.

The PKK is blacklisted by Ankara and most of its Western allies. But the YPG has been a key player in the US-led military alliance combatting the Islamic State group in Syria.

While Sweden has in the past voiced support for the YPG and its political wing, Kristersson's government appears to be distancing itself.

- Cashing the NATO enlargement card -
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told AFP in October he was convinced Sweden could satisfy Türkiye's demands.

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto told journalists on Monday he expected joining NATO would "happen in reasonable time".

Some analysts nevertheless believe Türkiye's presidential and parliamentary elections in June 2023 could delay the Nordic bids.

"The Turkish side will ratify their membership when it feels it is the best moment to cash that card," said Ilke Toygur, professor of European geopolitics at the University Carlos III in Madrid.

"I sense that many countries in NATO already assume that enlargement will be next year, maybe even in the second half of next year," she told AFP.

"It is widely assumed that Türkiye is also trying to negotiate for other things. It could be the F16s. It could be about its overall relationship with Russia."

Leading US senators have threatened to block the sale to Ankara of US F16 fighter jets unless Türkiye ends a maritime border dispute with Greece.

Türkiye, which seeks to maintain good relations with Ukraine and Russia, has not joined Western sanctions on Moscow and has acquired a Russian missile defense system while also supplying Kyiv with combat drones.

"It remains to be seen if Erdogan thinks he's got enough signs of goodwill from Sweden and it's therefore in his political and military interest to declare victory, or if he thinks sticking to the current line will serve his re-election campaign," said a European diplomatic source.

There was still a "reasonable chance" Türkiye would ratify the NATO bids before the 2023 elections, the source said.

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Kamala Harris Made History as Vice President. The Rest Didn't Go as Planned

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at a National Action Network event in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at a National Action Network event in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Kamala Harris Made History as Vice President. The Rest Didn't Go as Planned

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at a National Action Network event in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, at a National Action Network event in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

With Donald Trump’s return to the White House only days away, Kamala Harris ' staff packed into her ceremonial office to watch her sign the desk, a tradition performed by her predecessors for decades. Her husband, Doug Emhoff, stood behind her to take a photo as she wielded her Sharpie marker.
"It is not my nature to go quietly into the night," Harris said Thursday. “So don't worry about that.”
But what is next for her?
“I'll keep you posted," she said.
Harris hasn't made any plans for after leaving office Monday, apart from flying home to California. It will be the first time since 2004, when she became San Francisco's district attorney, that she hasn't held elected office.
There's talk that she'll write a book and speculation that she could run for governor or maybe president again. At 60 years old, Harris is still young in a political world where the last two presidents have set records as the oldest ever elected.
Donna Brazile, a longtime leader in the Democratic Party, recalled telling Harris that she needs to take a break and “learn what it's like to oversleep” for a while. They both laughed, and Brazile said, "Yeah, you’ll never go back to being ordinary.”
Brazile was campaign manager for Al Gore, the last sitting vice president to run for the top job.
“I’ve had more people call me about what’s next for Kamala Harris than called me about what’s next for Al Gore," she said.
Harris' term was both ordinary and extraordinary. Like many of her predecessors, she spent her time tending to a portfolio of issues — migration, abortion rights and maternal health among them — and representing the country overseas. Sometimes she struggled to distinguish herself, a common challenge in a job that comes with little constitutional responsibility.
But Harris also made history as the first woman, Black person or person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. And last year, Harris was thrust into an unprecedented situation when President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid and endorsed her as his successor.
There were only 107 days left in the campaign, leaving Harris in a sprint for the presidency. She instantly reset the terms of the race against Trump, who is nearly two decades older than her, but was unable to defeat him.
Many Democrats blamed Biden for running in the first place and putting Harris in an impossible position. Harris faced her own criticism, too.
Some said she should have sent a more populist message instead of focusing on Trump's antidemocratic threats by campaigning with Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman. She also failed to separate herself from Biden, who remains deeply unpopular with voters.
Minyon Moore, who chaired last year's Democratic National Convention, downplayed the criticisms by saying “ifa, woulda, coulda, shoulda.”
With Harris facing such an unusual campaign, Moore said, “there was no road map for what she should have done.”
Harris hasn't answered questions about her loss, nor has she shared her own perspective on the election. Her public remarks have been limited to rallying cries for students and others who are disappointed by Trump's victory, especially after Democrats described him as an existential threat to the country.
“No one can walk away," Harris said in one speech. "We must stay in the fight. Every one of us.”
Harris hoped to close out her term with an around-the-world trip to Singapore, Bahrain and Germany, a final opportunity to showcase her role on foreign policy. But she decided to stay in Washington as wildfires spread around Los Angeles. Her own house, in the Brentwood neighborhood, has been in an evacuation zone.
Harris didn't travel to the area because she was concerned about diverting local resources from responding to the fire, according to an official in her office who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss her planning.
Despite canceling her overseas trip, Harris has signaled her interest in remaining involved on the global stage. She's spent time in her final week in office making calls to foreign leaders including King Abdullah II of Jordan, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo.
On Wednesday, she was in the Oval Office to watch Biden give his farewell address. He described her as “a great partner,” and they embraced after the speech.
Biden chose Harris as his running mate after her first presidential campaign stalled four years ago. After taking office, her schedule was limited by the coronavirus pandemic and her obligations on Capitol Hill. With the US Senate evenly divided, she was often called on to cast tiebreaking votes, eventually setting a record as she helped advance judicial nominees and landmark legislation.
“She had to find her role," said Joel Goldstein, a historian who has studied the vice presidency. "It took some time to figure it out.”
Moore remembered an Oval Office meeting with Harris and other senior advisers as Biden deliberated whom to nominate for the US Supreme Court. Although it was unlikely that a liberal justice would have many opportunities to write majority opinions on a court dominated by conservatives, Moore said Harris focused on which candidate would harness the platform to issue dissenting opinions.
Harris wanted “somebody who could think through the nuances of writing those dissensions,” Moore said. Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson, fulfilling his promise to put a Black woman on the bench, and she's often drawn attention for her sharp dissenting opinions.
One of Harris' original tasks, reducing migration from Central America, became a political burden. Republicans described her as the “border czar” and blamed her for illegal crossings. However, fewer migrants came from the countries where Harris focused her efforts.
She met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Munich shortly before the Russian invasion began three years ago, and she spent a week in Africa to lay the groundwork for renewed US engagement.
Harris also traveled three times to Southeast Asia as the administration tried to reorient foreign policy to confront China's influence.
“She had the perception that we could use even more of an emphasis on this occasionally overlooked part of the world," said Phil Gordon, Harris' national security adviser.
Abortion rights became a defining issue for Harris after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Biden was more hesitant on the topic, and Harris started headlining the White House's efforts.
Lorraine Voles, Harris' chief of staff, said the court decision was “a turning point" for the vice president.
“That opened up a lane for her in a way that maybe wasn’t there previously," she said. "People were not focused on the issue of maternal health and reproductive health until people began to see it threatened.”
Nadia Brown, a Georgetown University government professor who focuses on Black women and politics, said Harris will “certainly go down in the history books” for breaking down racial and gender barriers in politics.
She said Harris' time as vice president helped expand the views of "everyday Americans who might have misconceptions about what a leader could be or should be.”
The only question left is what Harris decides to do now.
“It’s not over," Brown said. "But I’m not sure what that next chapter is.”