<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Sweden has taken "concrete action" to address Turkey's concerns over its NATO membership bid, including stepping up counter-terrorism efforts against Kurdish militants, Stockholm told Ankara in a letter dated Oct. 6 and seen by Reuters.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The two-page letter gives 14 examples of steps taken by Sweden to show it "is fully committed to the implementation" of a memorandum it signed with Turkey and Finland in June, which resulted in NATO member Turkey lifting its veto of their applications to the trans-Atlantic security alliance.</div><div><br></div><div>Sweden and Finland launched their bids to join NATO in May in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but ran into objections from Turkey, which accuses the two Nordic countries of harbouring what it says are militants from the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and other groups.</div><div><br></div><div>Stockholm and Helsinki deny harbouring terrorists but have pledged to cooperate with Ankara to fully address its security concerns, and to lift arms embargoes. Yet Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said as recently as Oct. 6 that its demands had not yet been met.</div><div><br></div><div>In its letter to Turkey, Sweden said that "concrete action has been taken on all core elements of the trilateral agreement".</div><div><br></div><div>Sweden's security and counter-terrorism police, Sapo, "has intensified its work against the PKK", and it made "a high-level visit" to Turkey in September for meetings with Turkey's MIT intelligence agency, the letter said.</div><div><br></div><div>Sweden's foreign ministry and the communications arm of Erdogan's office each did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.</div><div><br></div><div>Swedish officials delivered the letter, which was not previously reported, to Erdogan's office and the foreign ministry at the weekend, a source familiar with the situation said, requesting anonymity due to sensitivity over it. Source: Reuters&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>