President Erdogan's Party And Turkey's Opposition Provide NATO Membership Accession Support For Sweden

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson (Source: NATO)

JAKARTA - Turkey's Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission on Tuesday approved access to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership proposed by Sweden, an important step towards expanding the Western bloc after a 19-month delay, as security concessions from Stockhom were filed by Turkey.

The commission, which is controlled by the AK Party led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, decided to support the candidacy, after four hours of debate, including talks on other issues.

Previously, a vote on Sweden's accession had been delayed, following a debate on 16 Novemver.

The next step is to vote in the parliamentary general assembly, where President Erdogan's party also holds the majority. The bill is also expected to be passed there in a vote that can be held in a few weeks.

Next, President Erdogan will then sign the agreement into law, ending a process that has frustrated some of Ankara's allies and tested their relationship with the West.

Fuat Oktay's chairman narrowed hopes for a quick vote in the general assembly, telling reporters in parliament the parliament chairman would decide the time.

"The decision to convey it to the General Assembly has been taken now, but this should not be interpreted as (sign) it will be agreed at the General Assembly at the same speed. There is nothing like that," as reported by Reuters on December 27, meanwhile. Parliament will undergo a two-week recess in early January.

The AK Party led by Erdogan, the nationalist ally of MHP, and the main CHP opposition voted in favor of the ratification. Meanwhile, the Islamist team and Iyi's right-handed nationalist party voted against it.

In a statement following the commission's approval, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Sweden welcomed the move and hoped to join NATO.

Meanwhile, Boris Ruge, Assistant Secretary General of NATO for Political Affairs and Security Policy, said in X that the commission's approval was "good news".

As for Oguz Kaan Salici, a lawmaker from the CHP and commission members told Reuters his party had asked for an explanation of what had changed since the commission meeting on November 16, adding he expected all parties to take a similar stance from the General Assembly.

"We question what changed from the last meeting to this meeting. As the main opposition party, we ask for this to be explained to us. They tell us about the steps taken by Sweden, Turkey's foreign policy priorities, and publicly refer to the talks between President Erdogan and (US President Joe) Biden," said Salici.

It is known, President Erdogan raised his objection to accessing NATO membership proposed by Finland and Sweden last year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Objections were raised regarding the assessment of the protection of individuals judged to be terrorists by Turkey, as well as embargoes.

This April, Ankara ratified Helsinki's membership accession after being deemed to have followed up on Turkey's objections by cracking down on local Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) members, who were listed by the European Union and the United States as terrorist groups.

Later, Stockholm introduced a new anti-terrorism law that makes membership of terrorist organizations an illegal act, stating they uphold part of a deal signed last year.

President Erdogan himself submitted a Swedish petition to parliament in October, but also linked the final ratification of the agreement with US approval of the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. The White House supports the sale, although there is no clear timeframe for the US Congress to approve it.