Turkey set to approve Sweden's NATO membership bid after long delay
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[January 23, 2024]
By Huseyin Hayatsever and Tuvan Gumrukcu
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's parliament is widely expected to approve
Sweden's NATO membership bid on Tuesday, clearing the biggest remaining
hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance.
Turkey's general assembly, where President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling
alliance holds a majority, is set to vote on Sweden's application about
20 months after Stockholm asked to join NATO following Russia's
full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Once parliament has ratified the move, Erdogan would be expected to sign
it into law within days, leaving Hungary as the only member state not to
have approved Sweden's accession.
Hungary has said it believes NATO membership is "not a priority" for
Sweden based on its actions. It had pledged not to be the last ally to
ratify Sweden's membership, but its parliament is in recess until around
mid-February.
Turkey and Hungary maintain better relations with Russia than other
members of the U.S.-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
While opposing Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Turkey has criticised
Western sanctions on Moscow, which has cautioned that it would respond
if NATO bolstered military infrastructure in the two Nordic states.
The delay in securing Turkey's approval has frustrated some of Ankara's
Western allies and enabled Turkey to extract some concessions.
DELAY OVER RATIFICATION
When Sweden and Finland asked to join NATO in 2022, Turkey surprised
some alliance members in raising objections over what it said was the
two countries' protection of groups that Ankara deems terrorists.
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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf
Kristersson and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg gather prior
to their meeting, on the eve of a NATO summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania
July 10, 2023. Henrik Montgomery /TT News Agency/via REUTERS/File
Photo
Turkey endorsed Finland's membership in April last year but, along
with Hungary, has kept Sweden waiting. Ankara had urged Stockholm to
toughen its stance on local members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK), which the European Union and United States also deem a
terrorist group.
In response, Stockholm introduced a new anti-terrorism bill that
makes being a member of a terrorist organisation illegal. Sweden,
Finland, Canada and the Netherlands also took steps to relax Turkey
arms-export policies.
Erdogan, who sent Sweden's bid to parliament in October, has linked
Sweden's ratification to U.S. approval of sales of F-16 fighter jets
to Turkey.
The White House backs the sale, though there is no clear time frame
for the U.S. Congress to approve it and Turkey faces some
congressional opposition over delaying NATO enlargement and its
human rights record.
Turkey's general assembly is set to convene at 1200 GMT, with Sweden
expected to be among the first of dozens of matters to be debated.
Parliament's foreign affairs commission approved the bid last month,
with Erdogan's ruling AK Party, nationalist allies MHP, and main
opposition CHP backing it. Opposition nationalist and Islamist
parties rejected it.
MHP leader Devlet Bahceli said on Tuesday his party would continue
backing Sweden's bid in the general assembly vote.
(Additional reporting by Anita Komuves in Budapest; Editing by
Jonathan Spicer and Timothy Heritage)
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