Turkey Approves the NATO Bid of Sweden
Noriko Watanabe and Kanako Mita
Modern Tokyo Times
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey (Türkiye) notified Sweden last year that he would support the membership of Sweden to NATO. Henceforth, the parliament of Turkey – after delays – finally endorsed the bid of Sweden by an overwhelming majority.
Ironically, the approval comes at a time when Erdogan is unhappy with the majority of NATO members being supportive of Israel during the ongoing crisis in Gaza. However, the statements by Erdogan are often contradictory or based on public consumption to further his hold on power.
Fuat Oktay (Head of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission) said, “We support NATO enlargement to improve the alliance’s deterrence efforts… We hope Finland and Sweden’s attitude towards fighting terrorism sets an example for our other allies.”
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden said, “We are one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO.”
Turkey recently supported the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan. Also, Turkey continues to occupy North Cyprus and parts of North Syria – while bombing the Kurds in North Iraq.
The passing in Sweden of an anti-terrorism bill aimed at the Kurds placated Turkey. On top of this, military exports to Turkey by Canada, Finland, Holland (the Netherlands), and Sweden have been relaxed.
Pierre Schori – a close confidant of the esteemed former Social Democrat Premier Olof Palme (assassinated in 1986)– weighed in about Sweden bowing down to Turkey in 2022.
He said, “The agreement with Turkey is a slam for Erdogan, a shame for Sweden – and a betrayal of Kurdish freedom fighters. It is a shock for many Social Democrats.”
Lee Jay Walker says, “Only Hungary remains to support the NATO bid of Sweden. However, unlike Sweden throwing ‘Kurdish political activists under the bus,’ the political elites of this country haven’t built fresh political impetus with Hungary.”
The Guardian reports, “Hungarian officials have in the past presented different narratives domestically about Sweden’s application, while insisting to Western allies that Budapest would not be last to sign off.”
It seems likely that Hungary will approve.
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