The Turkish National Assembly ratified Sweden’s bid to join NATO on Tuesday, with the final vote tallying at 287 in favor, 55 against, and 4 abstaining, according to a report by JURIST.
This decision follows on the heels of lengthy discussions and negotiations surrounding security concerns and the strengthening of NATO should additional nations join. Many Turkish lawmakers have been quoted highlighting the mounting global tensions, pointing to situations like the Israeli attacks on civilians in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis in Palestine, and arguing that an enlarged NATO would be stronger.
The NATO treaty requires unanimous voting for any state to be admitted as a member, thus granting each individual member state the right to veto. It’s noteworthy that in 2022, in the wake of the Ukraine-Russia war outbreak, both Finland and Sweden expressed their desire to abandon their long-standing national neutrality policies and join NATO.
Ankara initially had reservations concerning the NATO application from the two Nordic countries, setting out a specific requirement that they should meet its security concerns. Following a memorandum signed in June 2022 at the NATO summit in Madrid by the presidents of Finland, Sweden, and Türkiye, as well as the Secretary General of NATO Stoltenberg, Sweden and Finland agreed not to support the PKK/YPG and FETÖ terrorist organizations, which facilitated Türkiye’s support for their NATO membership.
March 31, 2023, saw 276 Turkish lawmakers voting in favor of Finland’s NATO membership, which led to Finland becoming a NATO member as of April 4, 2023.
The Turkish public largely opposed Sweden’s accession, primarily due to concerns surrounding Sweden’s positions towards certain terrorist organizations and a perceived welcoming attitude towards FETÖ members post the failed July 15 coup attempt against the Turkish government in 2016.
In response to such criticism, Sweden has made significant strides to facilitate its NATO membership, including constitutional changes that paved the way for stronger anti-terrorism laws as mentioned by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during his visit to Türkiye.
While pressing Türkiye to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership bid, Washington managed to link the ratification to the American Congress’s approval for the sales of F16 fighter jets. The last NATO state required to ratify Sweden’s membership bid is Hungary. If approved, Sweden will become the 32nd member of NATO.