what Erdogan gains for lifting the veto on Sweden in NATO

The President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has lifted its veto on Sweden’s entry into NATO after a year of negotiations and back and forth with the allies. He has done it on the eve of the top which is held this Tuesday and until Wednesday in Vilnius, Lithuania, and in which the accession of the Nordic country is, together with the possible future incorporation of Ukraine into the military organization, one of the main points to be discussed.

The process has not been easy, and if Ankara has finally committed to clear the way to stockholm it is because it has achieved certain concessions. Perhaps one of the most notable is the transfer of F-16 fighter jets that the Joe Biden Administration has promised if it gets the go-ahead from the US Congress.

Although the White House, through its national security adviser Jack Sullivan, has tried to untie the sale of the jets with the unlocking of Sweden’s membership in the Alliance, everything indicates that the US has used these devices as a pressure mechanism. Türkiye requested the purchase of these aircraft manufactured by Lockheed Martin worth about 20 billion dollars in 2021. Washington, however, has delayed the talks until Erdogan has finally decided to change his mind about Sweden. “Biden has made it clear that he supports shipping,” Sullivan said on Monday.

This, however, does not seem enough for Erdogan, who since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shown a great ability to use its geostrategic position for your own benefit. For this reason, hours before the political leaders of the Atlantic Alliance met to try to close a deal, the Turkish leader launched his ordeal: he conditioned the process of Sweden’s entry into the organization with Turkey’s candidacy to enter the European Union.

“Türkiye has been waiting at the EU’s door for more than 50 years. I appeal to these countries. Open the way for Turkey to the EU and we will clear the way for Sweden, just as we paved the way for Finland,” he said at Istanbul’s Atatürk airport before boarding the plane to Vilnius.

Ankara submitted its candidacy to the EU in 1987, but was not officially recognized as a candidate until 1999. It had to wait until 2005 for negotiations to start, suspended in 2016 due to the authoritarian drift of the regime after the failed coup attempt against Erdogan . Since then these have been frozen, since the community block demands “greater respect for democratic values.”

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Initially, both the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, as European leaders like the German chancellor, Olaf Schölz, They were irritated by the statements and indicated that the two processes are not related. However, on Monday, after meeting Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, European Council President Charles Michel announced that “opportunities to restore cooperation between Turkey and the EU” had been explored. Furthermore, he announced that a special report would be commissioned to revive relations with Türkiye.

collaboration against terrorism

Erdogan’s latest gain has been to get NATO and Sweden to strengthen the mechanisms for fight terrorism. In this aspect, he has been the head of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, who has announced the commitment to create a new special anti-terrorism coordination position. A request that Ankara has been insisting on for years.

[Zelenski protesta por la negativa de la OTAN a ofrecerle un calendario de adhesión: “Es absurdo”]

Bilaterally, it has also managed to get Stockholm to agree to sign a security pact with Turkey for which a ministerial meeting will be held annually. In addition, the Nordic country, whom the Turkish leader had accused of having an overly lax policy on PKK militants (Kurdish Workers’ Party), has also assured that it will present a road map for the fight against terrorism. Previously, to achieve the unblocking, Sweden had already reformed its legislation on this matter.