Sweden overcame a hurdle to joining NATO on Tuesday when Turkish lawmakers endorsed the nonaligned country’s membership into the military pact after delaying the decision for more than a year.
Legislators ratified Sweden’s accession protocol 287 votes to 55, with four officials not voting, leaving Hungary as the only NATO ally that hasn’t backed the Scandinavian country’s entrance yet.
“Today we are one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson posted on X.
Turkey previously accused the country of being too soft toward groups that Turkish leaders deemed security threats, including Kurdish militants and members of a network that Turkey blames for a failed coup in 2016.
Turkey also was annoyed by demonstrations filled with supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and Quran-burning protests that took place in Sweden.
Leading up to Tuesday’s vote, the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee OK’d Sweden’s membership last month.
Turkish legislators on Tuesday endorsed Sweden’s membership in NATO, lifting a major hurdle on the previously nonaligned country’s entry into the military alliance. APSweden has amended its anti-terrorism laws and curbed PKK’s financial activities, Fuat Oktay, a senior legislator in Erdogan’s governing party and the head of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee told parliament.
Sweden also convicted a suspect for alleged money laundering and financing terrorism and extradited another suspect while lifting restrictions on arms sales to Turkey, he added.
“PKK-affiliated circles no longer find a comfortable room for maneuver in Sweden as they did in the past,” Oktay said.
Turkey’s main opposition party also backed Sweden, though a center-right party and the nation’s pro-Kurdish party were against welcoming a new ally.
Turkish lawmakers from Toplumsal Ozgurluk or Social Freedom party, foreground left, and Sosyalist Dayanisma Platformu or Socialist Solidarity Platform hold posters that read in Turkish: “No occupation, no war for Nato!” AP“Sweden’s steps concerning its extradition of wanted criminals or the fight against terrorism have remained limited and insufficient,” Musavat Dervisoglu, a legislator from the Good Party told parliament.
Erdogan has connected the ratification to the United States signing off on a Turkish request to buy 40 new F-16 fighter jets and kits to modernize the country’s existing fleet.
While President Biden never formally linked the arms sales to Turkey’s support of Sweden, numerous top members of Congress have made clear they wouldn’t back the sale unless and until Turkey approved Sweden’s accession to the alliance.
The sale of the F-16 fighter jets is expected to move quickly now, according to White House officials.
Turkish lawmakers vote in favor of Sweden’s bid to join NATO at the Turkish Parliament. APNational Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Sweden is “more than ready to become a NATO ally.”
“It’s time for Sweden to become a NATO ally,” Kirby added.
“They have a modern, advanced military– one that we’re very comfortable with. And they’ll add real significant military capabilities to the alliance.”
People shout slogans during a protest against the Sweden’s NATO membership called by Turkish Vatan, or Patriotic Party, in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024. APSweden and Finland sought NATO membership after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April.
Now Sweden needs to get by Hungary, which has accused Swedish politicians of spewing “blatant lies” about the condition of Hungary’s democracy.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Tuesday he sent a letter to his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson, inviting him to Budapest to talk about Sweden and NATO.
NATO needs every allied country to agree to expand its membership.
With Post wires
