Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent the Turkish Parliament its vote to ratify Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Turkish leader gave his approval for Sweden to join the military alliance, something he had refused to do until now.
With this decision, the Turkish Parliament will vote to ratify the accession protocol that will make Sweden a full member of NATO. Turkish President Erdogan initially refused to allow Sweden to join the military alliance and delayed this moment as long as possible.
Welcome that President Erdoğan signed Sweden’s ratification protocol to NATO and submitted it to the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye. Parliamentary procedures will now commence. We are looking forward to becoming a member of NATO.
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) October 23, 2023
In Sweden, there is a significant community of Kurds and opponents of Turkish power, which since 2016 has further intensified its authoritarianism after a failed coup d'état. Erdogan has accused Sweden of harboring Kurdish politicians and terrorists from the Kurdish Workers' Party, PKK, an organization that represents one of the biggest domestic security threats to Turkey.
Hungary pending joining NATO
After Turkey, only Hungary remains to ratify Sweden's accession protocol to NATO. The rest of the 29 members of the alliance voted in favor of Turkey joining, which after the Russian invasion of Ukraine sent its formal request to NATO. Along with Sweden, Finland is part of the latest wave of additions to the alliance, in the same context of the war in Ukraine.
These changes in Sweden and Finland's diplomacy and defense policies ended their historically neutral standing. Throughout its history, Finland, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia, was the best example of a commercial coexistence with Russia, especially throughout the end of the last century.
Several European countries also considered Ukraine's accession to NATO, something which according to many would activate the common defense pledge between the members of the alliance. Others say it goes against the statute of the alliance that bans countries in a state of war from entering NATO during that period of war.
