Turkish Parliament to discuss ratifying Sweden's NATO membership

The Turkish Parliament is scheduled to resume discussions on Tuesday regarding the approval of Sweden's request to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a contentious issue that became more complicated after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan linked it to Ankara's request for F-16 fighter jets from its ally, Washington.

Sweden and Finland abandoned their military neutrality agreements by seeking to join the defense organization led by the United States following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Their request received swift approval from all NATO members except Turkey and Hungary. Ultimately, the two countries accepted Finland's membership in the alliance, making it the 31st member in April.

Turkey and Hungary remain the only two NATO members that have not yet approved Sweden's request to join the alliance after 19 months of submission.

In November, the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Turkish Parliament failed to reach an agreement on a text for voting in the Parliament and will reconvene on Tuesday afternoon.

Erdoğan withdrew his objections to Sweden joining NATO in July after Stockholm launched a campaign against Kurdish groups classified as terrorists by Ankara.

Fuat Oktay, the deputy leader of the Justice and Development Party led by Erdoğan and the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, stated in a television interview on Monday, "We see a change in policy in Sweden. We see some decisions made in the courts, although few."

He added, "We had some demands for taking more steps."

Once the committee approves the proposed text, it will be voted on in a plenary session of the Parliament, where Erdogan's ruling alliance holds the majority of seats.

Other NATO member states intensified pressure on Turkey, with France stating that the alliance's credibility is "at stake."

AFP