“I am pleased to announce that after the meeting I hosted with President Erdoğan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, President Erdoğan agreed to refer Sweden’s accession protocol to the Turkish Parliament as soon as possible and ensure its ratification.”
With these words, the Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, inaugurated a new phase in the story of Sweden’s accession to NATO, as Stockholm is a few steps away from officially entering the most important defense alliance in the world now, and it only has the approval of the Turkish parliament to approve it. so join.
The recent expansion of the alliance, which began its journey last year, has not been easy since it was announced that all Finland and Sweden intend to join the alliance, which requires the unanimity of its members to join any newcomer.
Turkey did not miss the opportunity and announced its opposition to the accession of the two countries for security reasons related to the activity of the terrorist Workers’ Party on the lands of the two countries, especially Sweden, which preceded and imposed an arms embargo on Turkey.
Tough negotiations led by the Secretary-General of the Alliance led to the signing of the tripartite agreement in June 2022, in which Finland and Sweden pledged to address Turkey’s concerns in the field of combating terrorism.
Finland was quicker to dispel Turkish concerns, so it obtained the presidential and parliamentary approval of Ankara and obtained full membership, while Sweden remained stagnant due to its inability to implement the terms of the agreement and rein in the leftist currents supporting the activity of the PKK terrorist organization on Swedish soil.
Swedish delay gave Turkey the opportunity to reposition itself and raise the ceiling of its demands, whether from the European Union or the United States.
Sweden gives Türkiye more political gains
If Sweden had taken the initiative to implement the provisions of the tripartite agreement since its signing last year, the file would have been closed and Stockholm would have obtained NATO membership, as happened to its neighbor Finland.
Turkey’s demands last year ranged from legitimate security demands, to defensive demands for the abolition of the arms embargo by Sweden, and the United States’ approval to sell it F-16 fighter jets.
However, Sweden slowed down in implementing the terms of the agreement, pending the results of the Turkish elections, especially since the opposition gave Sweden and NATO hope, by announcing its unconditional approval of the annexation process if it won.
However, the winds come with what the ships of Stockholm and Western capitals do not desire, and Erdogan wins the presidency and his alliance continues to excel in parliament, to return to them again, armed with a popular mandate for the next five years.
Here, the equation changed with the change of facts on the ground, and Erdogan and his new team rephrase Ankara’s demands to add to them the approval of Turkey’s accession to the European Union as a condition for Sweden’s accession to NATO.
The new condition established the European Union on one foot, as its influential capitals rushed to emphasize the difference between the two paths, calling for not linking them, while the German press said that Erdogan – whom it described as the “Sultan” – (behaves as if he is in a market and follows his own style firmly).
The intense diplomatic moves, centered on Ankara, led to a new agreement between Turkey and Sweden, hours before the start of the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.
The new agreement confirmed Sweden’s amendment of its constitution and laws last year to confront the activity of terrorist organizations on its soil. It also referred to Stockholm’s expansion of its war against terrorism, especially against the PKK terrorist organization, in addition to Sweden’s resumption of arms exports to Turkey, and the implementation of all agreed steps. At the NATO summit in Madrid last year.
The agreement also referred to a number of important points that are additional gains for Turkey, most notably:
The two countries agree to continue cooperation and establish new security cooperation at the ministerial level, in accordance with the Madrid Agreement. Sweden also pledged not to support organizations such as the Kurdish Protection Units militia and the Democratic Union Party, which represent the Syrian extension of the PKK militarily and politically. The pledge also included the Gulen organization. Acceptance by NATO, Turkey and Sweden of the principle that there are no restrictions, barriers or sanctions against the exchange of defense industries or investments between allies. Sweden and Turkey agreed on the need to establish economic cooperation between them, which increases the chances of increasing trade and joint investment. Sweden supported Turkey’s accession to the European Union, contributed to the modernization of the customs union between Turkey and the European Union, and facilitated the process of obtaining an entry visa for Turkish citizens to the European Union.
This is with regard to the Turkish-Swedish relations. As for the NATO level, Turkey has succeeded in getting the alliance to appoint a special coordinator to combat terrorism, and to include the Kurdish Protection Units militia as a terrorist organization on the NATO list, which may pave the way for the dismantling of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Northern Syria, where the Protection Units represent its backbone, or at least re-form it and rid it of the dominance of the PKK terrorist organization’s extensions over it.
Turkey also succeeded in obtaining US pledges to supply it with new combat aircraft, as US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed that Biden plans to “move forward with the transfer of F-16s to Turkey in consultation with the US Congress.”
As for Europe, despite the difficulty of the idea of Turkey joining the European Union for cultural, historical and political reasons, at least the Union may reconsider the two files of updating the customs union agreement and raising the entry visa for Turkish citizens.
So, although Sweden has actually put one of its feet inside the alliance, the final approval decision is in the hands of the Turkish parliament, which means that negotiations are still underway to complete the accession or perhaps cancel it.
#Sweden #NATO. #reading #Turkish #gains
2023-07-11 14:34:23
