ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared that Turkey’s parliament will uphold its promise to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership bid if the US follows through on its commitments regarding the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara, Reuters news agency reported, citing Erdogan’s remarks on Tuesday.
Erdoğan made these comments while speaking to reporters on his return from Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan, revealing that Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had discussed Sweden’s NATO membership bid in New York last week.
The Turkish President disclosed that the US administration has linked the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey with the ratification of Sweden’s NATO bid. “If the US keeps its promises, our parliament will keep its own promise. The Turkish parliament will have the final decision on Sweden’s NATO membership,” Erdoğan affirmed.
Turkey, which had previously posed a significant obstacle to Sweden’s NATO aspirations, submitted a request in October 2021 to purchase $20 billion worth of Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-16s, along with approximately 80 modernization kits for its existing warplanes.
After months of reservations, Erdoğan consented at a NATO summit in July to forward Sweden’s NATO membership bid to the Turkish parliament for ratification. Subsequently, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced that Washington would proceed with the transfer of F-16s to Turkey in consultation with Congress.
Sweden’s NATO Membership Bid
However, the timing of both the F-16 transaction and the Turkish parliament’s approval of Sweden’s NATO bid remains uncertain. Ankara has previously accused Sweden of harboring individuals hostile to the Turkish state, primarily members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and many countries around the world.
President Erdoğan emphasized that Sweden should take additional steps, including the extradition of alleged PKK militants and preventing pro-PKK rallies in Sweden, to address Turkish concerns before Turkey officially supports Sweden’s NATO bid. To address these concerns, Stockholm passed legislation in June that criminalizes membership in a terrorist group and providing logistical or financial support to proscribed organizations.
Sweden and Finland submitted applications last year to join NATO, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While Finland’s NATO membership was confirmed in April, Sweden’s bid continues to face delays, primarily due to objections from Turkey and Hungary. Stockholm expressed optimism that Turkish lawmakers would ratify its NATO bid when they reconvene in October, in accordance with the agreement reached at the NATO summit in July.
