Turkey performs main U-turn over Sweden NATO membership in Putin hammer blow

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg introduced Turkey has agreed to assist Sweden’s bid to entry the Western navy alliance.

Taking to Twitter, the NATO chief hailed the “historic” step saying: “Glad to announce that after the meeting I hosted with Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ulf Kristersson, President Erdogan has agreed to forward Sweden’s accession protocol to the Grand National Assembly ASAP and ensure ratification.

“This is a historic step which makes all NATO Allies stronger and safer.”

A “clear date” for Sweden joining the alliance, Mr Stoltenberg said during a briefing in Vilnius, where a two-day NATO summit is taking place on Tuesday, could not yet be provided.

However, he spoke of Turkey‘s “clear dedication” to move on Sweden’s accession, as he also said: “Sweden will turn into a full member of the alliance.”

This main transfer marks a large blow to Vladimir Putin‘s Russia, which in the past year had strongly advised Sweden and Finland against ditching their military neutrality.

The two countries had applied to become members of the Western military alliance in the wake of Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.

While Turkey did not object to Finland, which became a NATO member on April 4, it strongly opposed to the Swedish bid.

Mr Erdogan’s objections were linked to the country allowing manifestations of support towards pro-Kurdish groups banned in Turkey including the PKK and YPG and its decision to host Kurdish militants.

As a result of these issues, Ankara has been accusing Stockholm of backing Kurdish separatism, which paired with a number of Quran-burning demonstrations that happened in recent months in Sweden have exacerbated the relations between the two countries.

Hopes for a deal to be reached appeared to have been dashed just 24 hours ago, when a bilateral call between Mr Erdogan and US President Joe Biden had appeared to be fruitless.

On Sunday, Mr Erdogan conceded Sweden “had taken some steps in the proper path” by “making adjustments within the anti-terrorism laws”.

However, pro-Kurdish manifestations still taking place in Sweden nullify “the steps taken”, the Turkish leader had argued.

In the joint statement released by NATO, Turkey and Sweden on Monday evening, the parties underlined the moves made by Stockholm in favour of Ankara, including changing laws, expanding counter-terrorism cooperation against the PKK and restarting arms exports to Turkey.

Ankara and Stockholm also agreed to create a “new bilateral Security Compact” and that Sweden will present a “roadmap as the premise of its continued struggle in opposition to terrorism in all its kinds”, the statement added.

As part of the deal, Mr Stoltenberg has also agreed to create a new post of “Special Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism” at NATO.

Sweden’s path to the NATO accession is sort of cleared, as Turkey solely must transmit the Accession Protocol for Sweden to the Grand National Assembly and guarantee its ratification.

While Hungary had additionally refused to again the Swedish bid, it was beforehand reported the nation’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban had pledged to not be the one holdout in opposition to Sweden’s membership.