The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee has given the green light for Sweden’s Nato membership – clearing a key hurdle in a process triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sweden’s Nato bid had been bogged down for months amid opposition from Turkey and Hungary, and recently it was further complicated after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan linked it to obtaining F-16 fighter jets from the US.
Turkey and Hungary remain the only Nato members left to ratify Sweden’s bid 19 months after it applied for membership. The two accepted Finland as Nato’s 31st member in April.
Sweden and Finland have dropped decades of military non-alignment to join the defence alliance.
“The protocol [on Sweden’s Nato accession] passed the committee,” opposition CHP party lawmaker Utku Cakirozer, a member of the foreign affairs committee, told Agence France-Presse.
The move paves the way for a vote by the full parliament, where Erdoğan’s ruling alliance holds the majority of seats. It was not immediately clear when it would be.
The Nato chief, Jens Stoltenberg, hailed the committee vote and said he counted on Turkey and Hungary to complete their ratifications “as soon as possible … Sweden’s membership will make Nato stronger”.
Sweden’s foreign minister said the next step was the vote in the Turkish parliament.
“We look forward to becoming a member of Nato,” Tobias Billstrom told the Swedish TV channel SVT Nyheter.
Erdoğan in July lifted his objections after Sweden and Finland agreed in a “trilateral memorandum” to address the Turkish government’s concerns about Kurdish activities.
Nato allies have piled pressure on Turkey, with France saying the credibility of the alliance was “at stake”.
In December, Erdoğan 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 embargos imposed on Turkey.
Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, the Ankara office director of the US German Marshall Fund thinktank, said: “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.”
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 Erdoğan’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 $20bn 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.
Erdoğan’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 recent killing of Turkish soldiers by Kurdish militants could also factor into Sweden’s Nato membership.
“But if Biden and Erdoğan show the necessary will, we can expect the process to be concluded soon.”
With Agence France-Presse