IRIA News

A panel from the Turkish parliament’s key commission on foreign affairs has cleared another hurdle in Sweden’s accession into the NATO alliance by approving Stockholm’s NATO membership bid on December 26, 2023.

The decision by the parliamentary commission has paved the way for the enlargement of the military alliance after 19 months of delays in which Ankara demanded security-related concessions from Stockholm. The Nordic country dropped its decades-long policy of military neutrality and applied to join the Alliance along with Finland in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Turkey and Hungary were the only two NATO member states that had been stalling Stockholm’s request for months. After months of diplomacy and meetings between leaders and high-ranking officials from Turkey and Western countries, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to approve Sweden’s NATO bid after Stockholm assured that it would take concrete steps in addressing Ankara’s security-related concerns.

Now when the commission, largely comprised of Turkish Parliamentary members from Erdogan’s AK Party, has voted on approving Sweden’s accession into the Alliance, the next step is to seek a majority vote by the full parliament, in which the AK Party and its allies hold a majority.

Commission head and a prominent member of the Turkish parliament, Fuat Oktay, played down expectations for a prompt vote in the complete Grand National Assembly. He informed reporters that the timing for the vote would be determined by the speaker, considering the upcoming two-week recess in early January.

“The decision to submit it to the general assembly has been made now, but this should not be interpreted as [a sign] that it will pass the general assembly with the same speed. There is no such thing,” Oktay said.

In a statement after the commission’s approval, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Sweden welcomed the move and looked forward to joining NATO.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg also hailed the approval by the Turkish parliamentary commission. “I welcome the vote by the Turkish parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership,” Stoltenberg said, urging Turkey and fellow holdout Hungary to complete their ratifications “as soon as possible.”

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, in July 2023, where the alliance leaders had gathered for the annual NATO Summit.

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.

US President Joe Biden’s administration has repeatedly promised to move forward with the $20-billion F-16 sale but lawmakers have blocked it over concerns about Turkey’s alleged violations of human rights and long-running tensions with Greece.

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.