The approval of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Turkish Parliament for Sweden’s membership in NATO
| Turkey's parliament's foreign relations committee approved Sweden's accession to NATO on Tuesday evening, a move that would bring Ankara closer to receiving new F-16 fighter jets if approved. |
According to the report of Fars News Agency International Group, the Foreign Relations Committee of the Turkish Parliament on Tuesday evening agreed to Sweden joining NATO, and thus the only vote in the General Assembly to grant or reject full approval. Turkey is the rest. -committee-approves-swedens-nato-bid/3093173″>Anatolia” Before the vote, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Burak Akjapar explained the process of Sweden’s membership in NATO to the committee and the legislators about this proposal discussed.
Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the protocol of Sweden’s accession to NATO and presented it to the parliament.
In October 2021, Turkey ordered the $20 billion F-16 fighter jet manufactured by Lockheed Martin and 80 upgrade kits for its existing warplanes to the United States. The delivery of these fighters was delayed due to Turkey’s purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system. Following this issue, the issue of Sweden’s membership in the NATO alliance was brought up. Both Turkish officials and the Biden administration have denied that Ankara’s agreement with Sweden’s accession to NATO is related to the sale of the F-16. To this issue, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billström welcomed this news and said: “We welcome the approval of Sweden’s NATO membership request in the Turkish Foreign Relations Committee. The next step will be the parliamentary vote on this matter. We look forward to becoming a member of NATO.”
Finland and Sweden are both Nordic countries and are close to or border Russia after Moscow’s war against Ukraine applied for NATO membership in February 2022.
Turkey confirmed Finland’s membership in the alliance in March, but said it was waiting for Sweden’s three side to June 2022 to address Ankara’s security concerns.
Any new NATO member must be approved by all current members, including Turkey, which has been a member for more than 70 years. It is the alliance and has the second largest army.
Hungary is the only NATO member, apart from Turkey, that has not yet approved Sweden’s proposal to join this NATO.
| publisher | Fars News |
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