Erdogan: Turkey to ratify Sweden's NATO membership if US approves F-16 sale
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on September 26 that the Turkish parliament would ratify Sweden's NATO membership if the United States approves the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara.
Erdogan's statement came after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed Sweden's NATO bid last week in New York.
"If they (the US) keep their promises, our parliament will keep its own promise. The Turkish parliament will have the final say on Sweden's NATO membership," Erdogan said.
Both Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Turkey initially blocked both bids, but gave the green light to Helsinki in March.
One of the main reasons why Ankara refused to accept Stockholm was Sweden's support for Kurdish groups that Turkey considers to be terrorists.
However, on July 10, following a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the Turkish leader expressed his willingness to support Sweden's bid and to submit it to the Turkish parliament.
A day after the announcement, the Biden administration said it would continue to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. Ankara has expressed its desire to procure these types of aircraft, worth a total of $20 billion, and nearly 80 modernization kits for its existing fighter jets.
Since then, neither the ratification of Sweden's NATO bid nor the sale of the fighter jets has been finalised.
Sweden is also awaiting the green light from Hungary, another NATO member that has not yet approved Stockholm's accession to the alliance.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on September 25 that Budapest is not in a hurry to ratify.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
