The Turkish parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday approved Sweden’s request to be a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), bringing it closer to being an effective member of the alliance.
Turkey is the last member of the Atlantic Alliance, along with Hungary, to block Sweden’s accession to NATO, through successive demands, but today the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish National Assembly has once again analyzed the issue, which was, then approved.
Sweden submitted its application for membership at the same time as Finland, which was admitted in April, following the start of the Russian war in Ukraine in February 2022.
The accession protocol of Sweden, a formerly non-aligned country, will now have to be approved in a plenary session of Parliament, the date of which has yet to be set, in the last phase of the legislative process in Turkey.
NATO member Turkey has delayed ratifying Sweden’s membership application for more than a year, accusing the country of being too permissive toward groups Ankara considers threats to its security, including Kurdish militants and members of a network which Ankara blames for a failed coup d’état. in 2016.
Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan linked Sweden’s ratification of NATO membership with the US Congress’ approval of a Turkish request for the purchase of 40 new F-fighter jets. 16 and ‘kits’ to modernize the existing fleet in Pavo.
Erdogan also called on Canada and other NATO allies to lift arms embargoes imposed on Turkey.
Erdogan’s resistance was overcome after a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden this month, after which Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan began to admit an acceleration of the ratification process for Sweden’s accession.
Even so, the Turkish president added as a condition for Ankara’s ‘green light’ the simultaneous ratification by the United States Congress of the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
Turkey had already played this ‘card’ to try to obtain authorization to acquire F-16s, which it needs to modernize its Air Force.
The US Biden administration is not opposed to this sale, but Congress has so far blocked it for political reasons, citing tensions with Greece, a NATO member country with which Ankara has recently approached.
Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military non-alignment to seek protection under the NATO security “umbrella” following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Finland joined the alliance in April, becoming NATO’s 31st member, after the Turkish Parliament ratified the Nordic country’s candidacy.
NATO requires unanimous approval from all existing members to expand, and Turkey and Hungary are the only countries that have resisted.
Hungary blocked Sweden’s candidacy, claiming that Swedish politicians told “blatant lies” about the state of Hungarian democracy.
The delays have frustrated other NATO allies who quickly accepted Sweden and Finland into the alliance.
News updated at 16:53
Source: TSF
