Türkiye gives the green light to Sweden’s membership in NATO before the crucial summit

Turkey agreed to go ahead with Sweden’s bid for NATO on Monday after intense diplomacy in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, as the alliance’s two-day summit is set to begin on Tuesday.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to ask parliament to advance Stockholm’s bid to join the transatlantic alliance, calling it “a historic step that makes all NATO allies stronger and safer.”

President Joe Biden was quick to applaud the news, saying he was “willing to work with President Erdogan and… [Turkey] On Strengthening Defense and Deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic Region. In a statement from the White House, he added, “I look forward to welcoming the Prime Minister [Olaf] Christerson and Sweden are our thirty-second NATO ally. And I thank Secretary General Stoltenberg for his steadfast leadership.”

The news came after Erdogan met with Stoltenberg and Kristerson for the second time on Monday, as part of a last-ditch effort to get Ankara to accept Sweden’s offer.

The breach deals a blow to Russia’s efforts to drive a wedge into the Western security alliance and is likely to prompt Hungary, another holdout, to agree to Sweden’s bid as well.

It remains unclear what Erdoğan got in return for ceding his post other than a NATO pledge to appoint a “special coordinator for counter-terrorism”.

And Erdogan had raised the stakes further before the main summit in Vilnius and the meeting with Biden tomorrow, indicating the need to revive Ankara’s stalled membership talks with the European Union in exchange for giving the green light to Sweden’s accession to the alliance.

“First, we pave the way for Turkey in the European Union, and then let us pave the way for Sweden, just as we paved the way for Finland,” Erdogan told reporters before leaving for the Lithuanian capital, where he held three-way talks with Stoltenberg. and Kristersson which apparently yielded no results.

The call for an EU quid pro quo is the latest in a series of Turkish demands in exchange for approval of Sweden’s membership. They include Erdogan’s insistence that Sweden prevent pro-Kurdish demonstrations from taking place on its soil and the handing over of various individuals Turkey designates as terrorists.

Stoltenberg backed Erdogan’s call, saying he supported Turkey’s ambition to join the European Union, an empty gesture since he had no influence over the decision. But German Chancellor Olaf Scholz refused, saying that Turkey’s ill-fated stab at joining the European bloc could not be linked to Sweden’s attempt to join NATO.

Erdogan’s last-minute brinkmanship before the summit kicks off on July 11 is part of a long-term strategy to extract maximum concessions before giving in to pressure, mostly from the United States.

In a thinly veiled reference to Congressional sanctions on military sales to Turkey stemming from its 2019 invasion of northern Syria and the acquisition of Russian missile batteries, Erdogan said he would use the summit to “reiterate our call for allies who impose sanctions and restrictions on Turkey to quickly reverse this mistake.”

Opinions remained divided until the last minute on whether Erdogan would acquiesce. Marc Perini, a former EU ambassador to Ankara and a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, voiced his skepticism, saying the Turkish leader had cornered himself. “The EU’s maneuver lacks credibility,” Perini said, recalling that Turkey’s poor human rights record “prevents Turkey from participating in membership negotiations.”

Most notably, Turkey continues to ignore European Court of Human Rights rulings calling for the immediate release of philanthropist Osman Kavala and Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas, who have been languishing in prison since 2017 and 2016 respectively on unconfirmed terrorism charges. Perini said that Turkey’s demand for the EU “seems primarily like an unrealistic way out of Ankara’s self-designed impasse in Sweden”.

Sweden’s bid to join NATO after decades of steadfast neutrality alongside Finland followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Even as he listed reasons for objecting to Sweden’s accession, Erdogan said he supported Ukraine’s membership, arguing that ending the war with a “just and lasting peace” As soon as possible, it will facilitate the process of Ukraine’s membership in NATO.” That comment is sure to infuriate the Kremlin, which expressed outrage this weekend over Turkey’s decision to allow five members of Ukraine’s Azov paramilitary battalion to go home with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In a Sunday phone call with Biden, Erdogan made many of the same arguments, though they were not reflected in the White House readings. She said the two discussed “a range of issues to be considered by NATO leaders at the summit, expressed their shared commitment to continue supporting Ukraine, and reviewed efforts to strengthen our bilateral relations.”

“President Biden also expressed his desire to welcome Sweden to NATO as soon as possible,” the statement noted.

The Turkish presidency said that the two sides agreed to meet personally in Vilnius and discuss regional issues in detail. The meeting is expected to take place on Tuesday evening.

The statement from the Turkish presidency said that although it had taken “certain steps in the right direction” – referring to Sweden’s recently renewed anti-terrorism legislation – its failure to prevent demonstrations in support of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, An armed campaign against the Turkish state made such moves “meaningless”.

Erdogan also appears to have fueled the ongoing controversy over Turkey’s efforts to purchase US F-16 fighter jets. The White House supports the sale. Congress insists that Turkey needs to lift its veto on Sweden’s membership first. The Turkish Reader noted that linking Turkey’s acquisition of the F-16s to Sweden’s membership was misleading. However, the Turkish leader thanked Biden for his support of the sales.

Update: July 10, 2023. This article has been updated since it was first published.