Erdogan rejects Sweden's NATO bid.
Turkish President Erdogan said that Sweden should not expect Turkish approval of its NATO accession bid prior to the alliance's leaders' summit next month in Vilnius, citing protests against his government or in support of Kurds or the PKK. NATO leaders are in the process of laying the groundwork for the July summit in the Baltics, and repeatedly say progress on Sweden's delayed membership bid is one objective for that summit. Erdogan argues Sweden must do more to clamp down on pro-Kurdish and anti-NATO protests, yet NATO argues that Turkey's position is helping fuel them.