ISTANBUL-Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was due to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on Tuesday, in a bid to persuade Turkey to drop its opposition to Sweden joining NATO.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden and Finland abandoned their long-held policy of non-alignment and applied to join the military alliance.
But Turkey has stalled ratification of their bids, accusing them of harbouring outlawed Kurdish militants. 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. He and Kristersson were due to meet at the presidential palace at 14:15 GMT and then give a press conference. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Ankara last week to press the countries’ case. 
“Their accession will make our alliance stronger and our people safer,” he said, adding that bringing Sweden and Finland into NATO would “send a clear message to Russia”. Stoltenberg stressed the two had agreed in June to concessions to Turkey, including 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. Turkey 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, Stockholm has authorised one extradition for fraud. Both Sweden 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. “There is too close a link between these organisations and the PKK, which is a terrorist organisation listed by the EU,” Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Saturday.