Turkish parliament approves Sweden's accession to NATO

01/23/2024 10:40 pm (current 01/23/2024 10:50 pm)

Erdogan still needs to sign the accession protocol ©APA/AFP

After a year and a half of political tug-of-war, the Turkish parliament approved Sweden's admission to NATO. On Tuesday night in Ankara, 287 parliamentarians voted in favor, 55 against and 4 members abstained. Now President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has yet to sign the so-called accession protocol, which is considered almost certain. However, it remains to be seen whether he will complete Turkish ratification in a timely manner.

After Erdogan's signature, the decision will be published in the Official Gazette. Hungary, a NATO country, has also yet to officially agree to admit Sweden. All 29 other Allies have already done so.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed his satisfaction with the Turkish parliament's approval and at the same time called on Hungary to do the same. “I welcome the vote by Turkey’s Grand National Assembly to ratify Sweden’s membership in NATO,” Stoltenberg said on Tuesday evening. He now also counts on Hungary to complete its national ratification as quickly as possible.

The Swedish government welcomed the decision. “Today we took a step closer to full NATO membership,” wrote Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on the online platform X, immediately after the vote in Ankara. Foreign Minister Tobias Billström was also pleased. Now let's wait for Turkish President Erdogan to sign and transmit the instrument of ratification, he told radio station SVT.

In light of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, Sweden applied to join NATO together with Finland in May 2022. Finland was welcomed into the alliance as the 31st member in early April last year.

Erdogan linked his country's approval, among other things, to US fighter jet deliveries. So far, however, approval from the US Congress is still lacking.

Turkey also repeatedly justified its blockade with what it considered to be Sweden's inappropriate deployment against “terrorist organizations”. Ankara is mainly concerned about the banned Kurdish Workers' Party PKK and the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia. The Stockholm government responded to Turkey's demands with stricter anti-terrorism laws. There was also outrage over the approval of the burning of the Quran in Sweden, which was the target of harsh criticism from Ankara.

Erdogan revoked his months-long veto last year and submitted the NATO membership protocol to parliament for ratification at the end of October. It remains unclear whether Ankara's green light depends on concessions in arms deal negotiations.

The US government must formally inform Congress in Washington about the arms sales. The US Parliament has the opportunity to block the arms deal. Several parliamentarians made it clear that they wanted to block the deal if Turkey continued to block Sweden's NATO membership.