Erdogan officially approves Turkey's ratification of Sweden's NATO bid
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Turkey's government newspaper publishes a protocol on Sweden's accession to NATO.
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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint press conference with the Iranian president in Ankara, on January 24, 2024. (Photo by ADEM ALTAN / AFP)
Turkey's government newspaper on Thursday published a protocol on Sweden's accession to NATO, a final technical step in Ankara's ratification of the Nordic nation's bid to join the US-led military alliance.
The Official Gazette's publication of the law on Sweden's accession to the alliance, which the Turkish parliament approved on Tuesday.
Erdogan had earlier signed the document, meaning that Turkey has completed all its required steps.
The Turkish parliament officially ratified Sweden's NATO bid on Wednesday, bringing an end to over a year of delays that had been a source of concern for Western powers.
The majority of Turkish parliamentarians voted in favor of Sweden's bid to formally become the 32nd member of NATO.
Turkey's green light leaves Hungary as the last holdout in an accession process that Sweden and Finland, which had adhered to decades of military non-alignment, began in response to the start of the war in Ukraine nearly two years ago.
Finland became the 31st nation of the alliance last April.
The Swedish authorities have welcomed Turkey’s decision. "Welcome Türkiye’s approval of the ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession. With this, a key milestone has been reached in Sweden’s path towards NATO membership," the office of Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X.
Kristersson said Thursday he was ready to meet his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban to help pave the way for Budapest's quick approval of the bid.
Orban announced on Wednesday that Hungary supports Sweden's accession to NATO and will soon schedule a ratification vote in the parliament.
"Just finished a phone call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg," he said on X. "I reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO membership of Sweden. I also stressed that we will continue to urge the Hungarian National Assembly to vote in favor of Sweden’s accession and conclude the ratification at the first possible opportunity."
NATO membership applications require unanimous ratifications by all alliance members.
In a related context, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said on Thursday that the US Defense Department is working to resolve the provision of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
"We’re working towards a resolution on providing the F-16s," Singh said during a press briefing when asked about efforts to supply Turkey with the fighter jets.
On Wednesday, US media reported that US President Joe Biden sent a letter to lawmakers, notifying them of plans to sell F-16s to Turkey once Ankara completes the NATO ratification process for Sweden.
In April 2021, the United States debarred Turkey from the F-35 program because it acquired Russia's S-400 air defense systems. Later that year, Erdogan mentioned that the US proposed that Turkey purchase F-16 jets instead, which are one generation behind the F-35s. However, this deal required approval from the US Congress and faced strong opposition from many lawmakers. The US later linked the F-16 deal to Turkey's approval of Sweden's NATO bid.
