ANKARA, Jul 16 Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz in In the interview, he called reports about allegedly offering Ankara money from the IMF in exchange for agreement on Sweden's membership in NATO «speculation» as «speculation».
Formerly prominent journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh, citing an unnamed source, said that US President Joe Biden promised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the amount of 11-13 billion dollars in exchange for ratification Sweden's application to join NATO. A source in the Turkish presidential administration noted that statements about promising money to Turkey in exchange for Sweden's membership in NATO are disinformation, Ankara builds its policy on the basis of national interests and the interests of its people.
«Turkey is a country that has chosen its own path. We are a country that does its own work. Our relationship in connection with our debt to the IMF has ended (earlier, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said that Ankara paid off the IMF on debts — ed.). In a very difficult period, our country continued and will continue its successful work. This is nothing but speculation,» the vice president said in an interview with A Haber TV channel.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan On July 10, on the eve of the start of the NATO summit in Vilnius, said that Sweden's entry into the alliance will be possible after Turkey is admitted to the EU. Later that day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Erdogan agreed to send papers to the Turkish parliament «as soon as possible» to ratify Sweden's application to join NATO, and Stockholm promised Ankara to facilitate its path to the European Union. At the same time, the speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Numan Kurtulmus, said that the deadlines for the submission of Sweden's application to join NATO to the Turkish parliament have not yet been determined.