BSS
  26 Dec 2023, 23:08

Turkey parliament committee approves Sweden's NATO bid

  ISTANBUL, Dec  26, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - A key committee in the Turkish

parliament on Tuesday approved Sweden's bid to join NATO after months of
delays, clearing another hurdle in the Nordic country's accession process in
the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.
       Sweden's NATO bid had been stalled amid opposition from Turkey and Hungary
and recently it 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 in February
2022.
       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.
       On Tuesday, the Turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee approved the
measure.
       "The protocol (on Sweden's NATO accession) passed the committee,"
opposition CHP party lawmaker Utku Cakirozer, a member of the foreign affairs
committee, told AFP after the vote.  
       The move paves the way to a vote by the full parliament, where Erdogan's
ruling alliance holds the majority of seats. It was no immediately clear when
the full parliament would hold its vote.
       Erdogan in July lifted his objections to Sweden's NATO membership after
Stockholm cracked down on Kurdish groups that Ankara calls terrorists.
       NATO allies have piled pressure on Turkey, with France saying the
credibility of the alliance was "at stake".
       
       - 'Simultaneously' -
       
       In December, Erdogan had linked Sweden's membership to the US Congress
"simultaneously" agreeing to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. He also said
NATO allies including Canada should lift arms embargoes imposed on Ankara.
       "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 long-running
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.