What has Türkiye gained?, Foreign media: Agree to Sweden's "accession" to NATO | Sweden | Türkiye
On July 10, Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally promised to remove the obstacles to Sweden's accession to NATO on the eve of the NATO summit. From persisting in opposition and refusing to let go, to abandoning the boycott of Sweden's "accession" application, Ankara's transformation has sparked various speculations about what concessions Turkey may obtain and how its role in the alliance will evolve after this crucial decision, such as counter-terrorism, the European Union, F-16
The website of the Spanish newspaper El Ni ñ a pointed out that during this tense process, Ankara has won tangible concessions from Sweden, especially in the area of counter-terrorism.
Türkiye's main reason for preventing Sweden from joining NATO is that Sweden's anti-terrorism policy is insufficient, especially on the issue of PKK members who are regarded as terrorists by Türkiye. Stockholm has therefore reformed its anti-terrorism legislation.
Sweden also agreed to sign a bilateral security agreement with Türkiye. In addition to these concessions, Sweden also lifted the arms sales blockade imposed on Türkiye after it sent troops to Syria in 2019.
Another issue of interest to Türkiye is the US F-16 fighter. Ankara made a request to purchase fighter jets in 2021. Although both Turkey and the United States have reiterated that this issue is not related to Sweden's accession to NATO, NATO member countries and experts in this field believe that the fighter jet issue has been part of negotiations since Finland and Sweden proposed joining NATO.
Previously, after Ankara agreed to Finland's joining NATO, the White House approved a series of sales plans to upgrade Türkiye's old F-16 fighter.
Now, after Türkiye changed its position to support Sweden, Jack Sullivan, the national security affairs assistant to the President of the United States, said that President Biden "decided to continue to sell the F-16". The development of the situation indicates that Erdogan's change in attitude is clearly related to the issue of fighter jets.
The website of the Saudi Arabian News Daily also noted that US officials had conducted intensive diplomatic activities for the NATO Summit and held many meetings with their counterparts in Türkiye.
Ryan Boer, a senior analyst at the American risk consulting company Lann Networks, believes that Türkiye's recent move will increase the possibility that the White House will submit a bill on the sale of F-16 fighters to Congress. Paul Levin, director of the Türkiye Research Institute of Stockholm University, believes that the F-16 transaction can be completed. "The commitment of the United States to deepen defense cooperation is a prerequisite for Ankara to agree to Sweden's accession".
In addition, the media also reported that before Türkiye made the decision to "release" Sweden's accession to the Treaty, Erdogan held a meeting with Michel, President of the European Council, to explore ways to resume cooperation between Türkiye and the EU and revitalize bilateral relations.
Erdogan previously linked Sweden's accession to NATO with the EU's acceptance of Türkiye. Türkiye has been a candidate of the EU since 1999, but its accession negotiations have been frozen since 2018.
When Erdogan issued a statement supporting Sweden's accession to NATO, he put forward the condition that EU member states should take the same stance on Türkiye's accession to the EU. The Swedish government also promised to "actively support the resumption of negotiations on Türkiye's accession to the EU". This is clearly the key to Erdogan's change in attitude.
In addition to the above "gains", analysts believe that restoring relations with the United States and Europe will also strengthen Türkiye's economy, help it attract foreign investment and support central bank reserves. Analyst Ryan Bor said that Erdogan also seems to have received a commitment to strengthen economic ties between Türkiye and Sweden.
