ISTANBUL, Dec 26, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - The Turkish parliament was Tuesday set to 
resume debate on approving Sweden's bid to join NATO, a thorny issue that was 
further complicated after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan linked it to 
Ankara's request for F-16 fighter jets from its ally the United States.

Sweden and Finland dropped decades of military non-alignment and sought to 
join the US-led defence organisation after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.

Their bids won fast-track approval from all NATO members except Turkey and 
Hungary. The two ultimately relented and Finland was accepted as NATO's 31st 
member in April.

Turkey and Hungary remain the only North Atlantic Treaty Organization members 
left to ratify Sweden's bid 19 months after it applied for membership.
 
In November, the Turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee failed to 
reach agreement on a text for a full floor vote and will meet again on 
Tuesday afternoon.

Erdogan in July lifted his objections to Sweden's NATO membership after 
Stockholm cracked down on Kurdish groups that Ankara calls terrorists.

"We see that there is a change in policy in Sweden. We see some decisions 
taken in courts, albeit few," Fuat Oktay, a lawmaker from Erdogan's ruling 
AKP party and head of the parliament's foreign affairs committee said in a 
televised interview on Monday. 

"We had some requests for further steps to be taken," he added. 

Once it is approved by the committee, there will be a vote on the full 
parliament floor, where Erdogan's ruling alliance holds the majority of 
seats. 

NATO allies have piled pressure on Turkey, with France saying the credibility 
of the alliance was "at stake". 

- Process fraught with problems -

But the process is fraught with problems.

In December, Erdogan suggested that parliament will only act on Sweden if the 
US Congress approves Turkey's requested purchase of dozens of F-16 fighter 
jets and spare parts, and if other NATO allies including Canada lift arms 
embargoes imposed on Ankara.

"Positive developments from the United States regarding the F-16 issue and 
Canada keeping its promises will accelerate our parliament's positive view 
(on Sweden's membership bid)," Erdogan said. 

"All of these are linked," he added.

"Sweden's NATO membership and F-16 sales to Turkey will be handled in 
coordination to some extent... because unfortunately, neither country trusts 
the other," Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, the Ankara office director of the US German 
Marshall Fund think tank, told AFP.

Turkey's ageing air force has suffered from Ankara's expulsion from the US-
led F-35 joint strike fighter programme in 2019.

This was in retaliation for Erdogan's decision to acquire an advanced Russian 
missile defence system that NATO views as an operational security threat.

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 its past 
tensions with Greece.

"There is no strong consensus in the parliament on Sweden's NATO membership, 
nor in the US Congress on the sale of F-16s to Turkey," Unluhisarcikli said.

Erdogan's anti-Israel rhetoric after the start of its war with Hamas had 
raised concerns in Washington.

"Although the issues are not related, Turkey's statements supporting Hamas 
further complicated the F-16 process," Unluhisarcikli said, adding that the 
killing of Turkish soldiers by Kurdish militants last weekend could also 
factor into Sweden's NATO membership.

"But if Biden and Erdogan show the necessary will, we can expect the process 
to be concluded soon," he added.