The foreign affairs committee of the Turkish parliament has started discussion on Sweden's application to join NATO on Tuesday. This came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan connected Sweden's acceptance into the alliance with the United States' approval of Turkey's wish to buy F-16 fighter jets.
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While Turkey, as a NATO member, initially opposed Sweden's entry, it withdrew its objection in July. However, the approval process has been delayed in parliament. Turkey argues that Sweden has not adequately addressed its security concerns, specifically regarding the fight against Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara considers security risks.
Erdogan recently made another difficulty by openly connecting Sweden's NATO membership approval to the U.S. Congress' endorsement of Turkey's request for 40 new F-16 fighter jets and kits to upgrade its current fleet. Additionally, the Turkish leader urged both legislatures to take action simultaneously, and requested that Canada and other NATO allies lift the arms blockage imposed on Turkey.
While the White House has expressed support for Turkey's F-16 request, there is considerable opposition in Congress regarding military sales to Turkey.
Last month, the Turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee started discussions on Sweden's NATO membership. However, the meeting was postponed when politicians from Erdogan's ruling party proposed a motion to postpone, citing the need for further clarification on certain issues and claiming that negotiations with Sweden had not progressed sufficiently.
If the committee approves it, Sweden's bid would then need the full assembly's approval.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional positions of military nonalignment and sought protection under NATO's security protection. Following Turkey's approval of Finland's bid, the Nordic country became NATO's 31st member in April.
Expanding NATO requires unanimous approval from all existing members, with only Turkey and Hungary currently holding out. Hungary, alleging that Swedish politicians have made false statements about the state of Hungary's democracy, has delayed Sweden's bid.
The delays have caused frustration among other NATO allies who were quick to accept Sweden and Finland into the alliance.
According to the Associated Press.
