The last half step

The last thing that remains for Türkiye is for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to sign a decree announcing it and sending it to NATO. Erdogan will certainly do this. The only question is when he will do it and what further conditions the US, NATO and Sweden will have to meet.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (left) shakes hands with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (right) as NATO Secretary General looks on in July 2023

From the very beginning of Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO, Erdogan's strategy was not to object in principle, agree with other NATO members on political decisions but operate in his own way on specific procedures and procedures. Erdogan turned NATO into a "hostage" in the admission of Finland and Sweden to force the US and the other two countries to meet Türkiye's own requirements and preconditions. Only after Finland and Sweden made concessions to Turkey did Ankara agree to let Helsinki join and Stockholm come to NATO's doorstep.

If we use images to represent, the recent approval of the Turkish parliament is half a step in the final step in Ankara. The remaining half is Mr. Erdogan's private game with the US. Specifically, here Mr. Erdogan intends to continue to force the US to sell modern fighter jets and advanced US weapons to Türkiye. For Mr. Erdogan, NATO's admission of Sweden is not as important and urgent as Turkey being provided with the most modern weapons and military equipment by the US, helping Türkiye become a military power in the region and in the Islamic world. So Sweden is now only half a step away from NATO but still has to continue to wait, maybe not for long but also maybe a long time.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/con-nua-buoc-cuoi-185240125205146103.htm