The United States is currently pushing to persuade Turkey to accept Sweden’s membership, as the file was a top priority for US President Joe Biden when calling his counterpart Erdogan to congratulate him on his re-election. then commented to reporters, saying: “I spoke with Erdogan and congratulated him. He still wants a solution regarding fighter jets. ” “The F-16. I told him that we want to deal with Sweden, so let’s get it over with. Then we’ll reconnect.”
In this sense, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Turkey to immediately complete the approval of Sweden’s application for NATO membership, saying that the northern European country has already taken steps important in responding to Ankara’s objections to its membership application.
Acceptance .. and the “F-16” agreement Helsinki and Stockholm applied to join NATO together last year following Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, but their fates diverged after Turkey ratified Finland’s request ahead of Turkish presidential elections, while that it postponed consideration of the Swedish request, following a long dispute over what Ankara considers support for Kurdish groups, as well as restrictions on arms exports. The American New York Times estimated that Erdogan’s approval of Sweden’s request would have many positive results, as it could open the door to obtaining American F-16s and kits to retrofit older Turkish designs. Blinken also declined to point out that Turkey’s endorsement of Sweden’s application to join the alliance is linked to the United States’ sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, although that US President Joe Biden hinted on Monday that there is a connection between the two. These sales have been blocked in Congress, where many lawmakers are critical of Turkey-Russia relations, as well as Ankara’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 anti-aircraft system. Erdogan had earlier mortgaged his country’s endorsement of Sweden’s NATO membership, taking “concrete steps” over what he described as Stockholm’s refusal to hand over PKK “terrorists”.
Anti-terrorism law
Regarding the repercussions of Erdogan’s three-term victory on his stance on Sweden’s application to join NATO, the Director of Strategy and Armaments of the International Institute for Strategic Studies based in London and former NATO official William Alberki said in exclusive statements to “Sky News Arabia”: This will mean stability and predictability, including that once Sweden passes its new counter-terrorism law in early June, as Turkey had previously requested, it could give Sweden the green light immediately.
Alberki doesn’t think it will take long to get Ankara’s approval as the issue will be settled before the NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius next July.
He added: “Turkey is likely to continue Erdogan’s policy of trying to play a balanced role between NATO and Russia, and in fact Sweden’s NATO membership will significantly reduce the possibility of a conflict in the northern and Baltic region, where Russia will no longer see any opportunities for attack or damage.” “.
List of requests
For his part, the Turkish political analyst, Youssef Katabioglu, in statements to “Sky News Arabia”, exposed Ankara’s position on Sweden’s NATO membership on a number of points, stating that : On the foreign relations file, with President Erdogan winning a third term, I expect there will be a continuation of what the Turkish President started by maintaining the priority of ensuring national security Turkey and parity in relations with Western countries. As for the Swedish file, it is problematic in view of its non-compliance with the conditions signed last year, which stipulate that it renounces support for groups that Turkey considers to be “terrorists”, such as the “PKK” organization, as well as the extradition of persons wanted in Turkish courts for terrorism, in particular members of the Gulen group. In the official Turkish opinion, just as Swedish national security is of the utmost importance to it and it wishes to join NATO, national security is also of the utmost importance to Turkey and it will not allow any threats. to its national security from terrorist groups present in Sweden. , and Sweden must understand this. I do not expect there to be any change in President Erdogan’s policy on this particular file, despite American pressure and barter in the delivery of “F-16” planes, in exchange for the acceptance of Sweden’s membership.
However, former Pentagon official and executive director of the McCain Institute for Studies, Evelyn Farkas, believes that “if Sweden is not accepted as soon as possible, it will dampen Russia’s response, and Putin will see that as a sort of victory. ”
Stations between Türkiye and Sweden In 2022, Sweden and Finland signed an agreement with Turkey aimed at addressing objections to their joining the alliance. Ankara has confirmed that Finland and Sweden will ban recruitment and fundraising activities for Kurdish militants as well as terrorist propaganda against Turkey. They also pledged to show solidarity and support for Ankara in the war against terrorism in all its forms, and they also agreed not to impose restrictions on defense industries. Last December, Turkey expressed its disappointment at the decision of the Swedish Supreme Court to suspend a request for the extradition of a journalist from supporters of the cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey holds responsible for an attempt failed coup in 2016. The incident of the burning of the Quran a meeting at the end of January in front of the Ankara embassy exacerbated the crisis between the two camps. The Turkish president has stipulated that Sweden must hand over 130 wanted people to Ankara in order for it to ratify its accession to the military alliance.
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