military alliance
Turkish parliament approves Sweden’s accession to NATO
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, applauds in front of Parliament
© — / Ak Party / APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire / DPA
After a year and a half, Turkey has made a decision: Parliament is clearing the way for Sweden to join NATO. Now all that’s missing is Erdogan’s approval.
After a year and a half of political tug-of-war, the Turkish parliament has approved Sweden’s admission to NATO. On Tuesday evening in Ankara, 287 parliamentarians voted in favor, 55 against, and 4 members abstained. Now President Recep Tayyip Erdogan still has to sign the so-called accession protocol, which is considered almost certain. However, it remains to be seen whether he will complete Turkish ratification in a timely manner. After Erdogan’s signature, the decision will be published in the official gazette. The NATO country Hungary also still has to officially agree to Sweden’s admission. All other 29 Allies have already done this.
The Swedish government has welcomed the Turkish parliament’s approval of the Scandinavian country’s NATO membership. “Today we have come one step closer to full membership in NATO,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on the online platform X on Tuesday evening immediately after the vote in Ankara. It was “positive” that the Grand National Assembly of Turkey voted for Swedish accession voted in the defense alliance.
Foreign Minister Tobias Billström also welcomed the news from Ankara. “It is of course good that the Turkish parliament has now voted for it,” he told the radio station SVT. Now we will wait for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to sign and forward the ratification instrument. This should happen as quickly as possible – there is no reason to wait once Parliament has done its part, said Billström.
In view of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022. Finland was welcomed into the alliance as the 31st member at the beginning of April last year.
Türkiye blocked NATO membership because of trouble with Sweden
Erdogan had tied his country’s approval to, among other things, fighter jet deliveries from the USA. So far, however, the approval of the US Congress is still missing.
Turkey had also repeatedly justified its blockade with what it saw as Sweden’s inadequate deployment against “terrorist organizations”. Ankara is primarily concerned with the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG. The government in Stockholm had responded to Turkey’s demands with stricter anti-terror laws. There was also anger over the approval of Koran burnings in Sweden, which met with sharp criticism from Ankara.
Erdogan revoked his months-long veto last year and submitted the NATO accession protocol to parliament for ratification at the end of October. It remained unclear whether the green light from Ankara depends on concessions in negotiations on arms deals.
The US government must formally inform Congress in Washington about the arms sale. The US Parliament has the opportunity to block the arms deal. A number of parliamentarians had made it clear that they wanted to prevent the deal if Turkey continued to block Sweden’s accession to NATO.
This post has been updated.