Turkey’s President sends legislation to ratify Sweden’s bid to join NATO

Europe, News October 24, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan submitted a bill to the parliament on October 23, 2023, seeking ratification for Sweden’s admission into the NATO alliance. The move comes after months of back-and-forth diplomacy on the issues between Turkey and other NATO member states.

“The Protocol on Sweden’s NATO Accession was signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 23, 2023, and referred to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey,” Ankara’s Presidential office announced on Monday.

Erdogan had promised his fellow NATO leaders to approve Sweden’s accession into the Alliance in July this year. After his meeting with the Swedish leader in Vilnius this year, he had promised his fellow leaders that he would send legislation to the Turkish parliament, which had raised concerns about Sweden’s admission into the largest military alliance.

Sweden needs approval from all 31 NATO member states to become part of the alliance. Turkey was the last country that objected to Sweden’s accession to the alliance. Ankara had been delaying Stockholm’s bid to join NATO as it accused the Nordic state of being too soft on Kurdish militants and other groups that Turkey country considers to be security threats. Sweden further angered Turkish leadership through a series of Quran-burning protests in Stockholm.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with Turkish President Erdogan — *^{NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in New York. (Image Credit: Twitter/@jensstoltenberg)}*

NATO Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg, who had been urging Ankara to make swift progress on the matter, hailed the move. “I look forward to a speedy vote to ratify, and to welcoming Sweden as a full NATO ally very soon,” he said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “As I told President Erdogan when we spoke on the weekend, this will make the whole Alliance stronger and more secure.”

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson welcomed the development. “Now it remains for the parliament to deal with the question,” Kristersson said on a social media platform. “We look forward to being a NATO member.”

Turkey’s changing stance

Finland and Sweden jointly applied to be a part of the NATO alliance in May 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland’s request was approved by all members; however, Sweden’s was opposed by Hungary and Turkey on different grounds.

Following a series of back-and-forth meetings mediated by the NATO leadership, diplomatic engagements, and agreements, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his support for Sweden’s application to join the NATO military alliance. The announcement came at Vilnius, Lithuania, where the alliance leaders have gathered for the annual NATO Summit.

*^{NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hosted a meeting between Sweden, Finland, and Turkey on July 6, 2023. (Image Credit: NATO)}*

In return for the approval, Sweden agreed to work closely to address Turkey’s security concerns. NATO said in its joint statement that “Sweden has amended its constitution, changed its laws, significantly expanded its counter-terrorism cooperation against the PKK, and resumed arms exports to Turkiye,” all mentioned in the 2022 Trilateral Memorandum. Both Ankara and Stockholm countries recognized that counter-terrorism cooperation requires long-term commitment, extending beyond Sweden’s accession to NATO.

Hours after Ankara’s decision in Vilnius, the U.S. administration announced it would move forward with the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey in consultation with the United States Congress. Turkey had requested to buy $20 billion in F-16 fighters and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes. However, the deal has been stalled since 2021.