Turkey’s Parliament has ratified Sweden’s NATO Membership and Erdoğan Has Signed the Ratification

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Sweden’s NATO membership bid has long waited to be voted by Turkey’s parliament. Sweden’s application has officially been accepted by Turkey.

Sweden had applied to join NATO on May 17, 2022. However, Turkey said “yes” to Swedens NATO membership on 25 January, 2024.

Hungary has also not accepted Swedens NATO membership yet.

The rest of this article is about Turkey’s unwillingness toward ratification of Sweden’s application as a result of which Sweden had waited for a long time for the ratification.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan participated in the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit which was held in Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Erdoğan held a trilateral meeting with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on 10 June, 2023.

After the meeting, the Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that Erdogan had agreed to forward Sweden’s NATO membership to Turkey’s parliament for ratification.

However, Grand National Assembly of Turkey may not ratify Sweden’s bid for NATO membership.

Sweden’s NATO Membership: Is Erdoğan Against it?

Erdoğan has only agreed to forward the Sweden’s bid to the Turkish Parliament which is in summer break since 15 July, 2023. However, the break ended in October and the new legislative year has started on 1 October, 2023.

Turkey’s Parliament: Erdoğan Has the Majority

As a result of the 2023 elections which were on 14 May, Erdoğan and his allies has won the majority in the parliament. Therefore, the parliament will be deciding on the Sweden’s NATO bid according to Erdoğan’s commands.

What is the Problem? ‘Quid Pro Quo’

After a G20 summit in the Indian capital New Delhi, Erdoğan accused U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration of linking F-16 fighter jet sales to Turkey with Turkish ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership bid.

Similarly, Erdoğan had linked Turkey’s EU process with Swedens NATO membership bid. However, after a few days, he has agreed to forward the Sweden’s bid to Turkey’s parliament.

Apparently, Sweden’s membership to NATO is beyond Turkey-Sweden relations. Both the US-Turkey relations and the EU-Turkey relations are part of the Sweden’s NATO membership process. Although not publicly anounced, Turkey wants quid pro quo for the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership in Turkey’s parliament.

Why not Finland, but Sweden?

Finland and Sweden has applied for NATO membership at the same time. Finland was accepted on 4 April, 2023 and became the 31st country which joined NATO.

Nonetheless, Sweden’s membership bid is still on the table. One reason is the Quran burning protests in Sweden. The other reason is some Kurdish separatists in Sweden. Erdoğan government has long called on Swedish government to crack down on Kurdish separatists who are convicted in Turkey due to links with PKK.

Stockholm has taken some steps to address Turkey’s concerns related to Quran burning and PKK. Now, Sweden is looking forward to new legislation year in Turkey for the ratification of the NATO bid by the parliament.

Sweden’s Membership is Bargaining Chip for Erdoğan

Although Sweden has met the requirements by Ankara, Sweden’s NATO membership bid may not be ratified in the parliament. As Erdoğan is using Sweden’s bid as a bargaining chip against the US administration. So, Sweden’s membership will be decided after bargains between third parties, rather than Sweden-Turkey relations.

Once Joined, Sweden will be the 32nd Nation in NATO