What Turkey gained in delaying Sweden's Nato bid
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Turkey gained geopolitical victories by delaying Sweden's Nato bid, but strained relations with the West, analysts say.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ANKARA - A Turkish Parliament commission delayed a vote on Sweden’s Nato membership
It was a further setback to the Nordic country’s hopes of joining the Western alliance after 18 months of waiting.
Chairman Fuat Oktay said the commission, which is controlled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, will hold further talks and may bring the Bill back on its agenda next week - but he did not set a clear timeline.
In May of last year, Mr Erdogan raised objections to both Swedish and Finnish requests
Turkey ratified Finland's bid in April but, along with Nato member Hungary, has kept Sweden waiting.
Ankara has demanded that Stockholm take more steps to crack down on what it sees as terrorists in its jurisdiction.
Here is a guide to what Stockholm, Helsinki, Washington and other Nato members have done to address Ankara's concerns, marking what analysts say are geopolitical victories for Mr Erdogan even as he has strained Turkey's Western ties:
What concessions have Sweden and Finland made?
At a Nato meeting in Madrid in 2022, Turkey struck an agreement with Sweden and Finland in which they would lift arms embargoes and take measures against members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and the separate so-called Gulen movement that Ankara holds responsible for a 2016 coup attempt.
Last year, Stockholm reversed a ban on exporting military equipment to Turkey, without revealing details of companies or products.
In June, it introduced a new anti-terrorism bill that makes being a member of a terrorist organisation illegal, saying that it had upheld its part of the deal.
In recent months, a top Swedish court blocked the extradition of two Turks that Ankara says are Gulenists.
An appeals court also upheld the conviction of a man for attempting to finance the PKK, which is also deemed a terrorist group by the European Union and US.
Separately, in response to criticism in Turkey and other majority Muslim countries, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said Sweden was examining whether it could change the law to stop people burning the Muslim holy book the Quran in public.
Finland, for its part, agreed in 2022 to consider granting arms export permits to Turkey on a case-by-case basis. After nearly a year wait, Ankara said Helsinki had won its blessing.
What have other Nato members done?
When Mr Erdogan signalled at a Nato conference in July that Sweden would eventually get the green light, Nato member Canada quietly agreed to re-open talks with Turkey on lifting export controls on drone parts, including optical equipment.
The Netherlands lifted restrictions on arms deliveries to Turkey.
Also in July, following a meeting between Turkish and Swedish leaders, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced Nato would establish a special coordinator for counterterrorism. In October, he appointed Assistant Secretary-General Thomas Goffus to the post.
Sweden go-ahead for US F-16 fighters?
Overhanging discussions has been the question of Washington's endorsement of Ankara's request to purchase US$20 billion (S$27 billion) worth of F-16 fighter jets and 79 modernisation kits.
A day after Mr Erdogan gave the green light for Sweden to join Nato in July, the White House said it would move ahead with the transfer of the F-16s to Turkey in consultation with Congress.
In October, Mr Erdogan sent Sweden's Nato bid to Turkey's Parliament for consideration. But he has said Washington was linking the F-16s ratification with that of Sweden.
Ankara made the F-16 purchase request in 2021. But it has faced objections in the US Congress over Turkey's delaying Nato enlargement and its human rights record.
What is the current state of Sweden’s bid?
Since submitting the bill to Parliament in October, Mr Erdogan said he would try to facilitate ratification.
But he added that Stockholm still had not taken enough action against Kurdish militants.
Meanwhile, Nato foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on Nov 28-29. Besides Turkey, Hungary has also not yet ratified Sweden’s bid.
Israel's war against the militant group Hamas in Gaza could strain US-Turkish ties and complicate Nato enlargement, analysts say.
After Erdogan said Hamas was not a terrorist organisation but a liberation group fighting to protect Palestinian lands, 47 US Congress members urged the administration to hold Turkey accountable for its role in supporting Hamas. REUTERS
