NATO membership for Sweden and Finland

[Monash]

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals...ato-membership

... It nonetheless does seem that things are reaching a stage of where neither side will sign off on a deal until the other side signs first!
Wonder who will blink first???

All other things being equal it should logically be Turkey. That's because;

1) There's only so many hours you can pile onto an air frame before it has to be scrapped so for the Turkish Air Force the clock is ticking; and

2) In terms of the requirements and practicalities involved in joining and working with NATO Sweden has basically met all the necessary metrics for decades. If required every other member but Turkey in NATO could conduct joint military operations with Sweden tomorrow, Turkey be dammed. For that matter given the geography involved its kind of hard to think of real world military actions (other than training) where Swedish and Turkish forces would be required to operate side by side.

But back to 'all things being equal'. There is one fly in ointment. And that' a fat, narcissistic, orange haired fly who just might win the US election next year.

[Amled]

Around two weeks ago the Turks were up in arms, at the very thought of linking Turkish purchase of F-16’s,
with the controversy regarding Sweden being accepted into NATO!
The very thought was “shocking”…”shocking”…they would have the media believe!!!

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals...ato-membership

Turkey 'seriously upset' over Washington linking F-16 sales to Sweden’s NATO membership

That was then!
Now they are playing a different tune!!!
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/w...hter-jets.html

Erdogan says Turkey’s parliament will ratify Sweden’s entry into NATO if the U.S. sells Turkey fighter jets.

This is beginning to look more and more like an “extortion” scheme taken to grand heights!

[Monash]

Around two weeks ago the Turks were up in arms, at the very thought of linking Turkish purchase of F-16’s,
with the controversy regarding Sweden being accepted into NATO!
The very thought was “shocking”…”shocking”…they would have the media believe!!!

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals...ato-membership


That was then!
Now they are playing a different tune!!!
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/w...hter-jets.html

This is beginning to look more and more like an “extortion” scheme taken to grand heights!

Sorry no deal. The US still has an incentive to sell F-16s to Turkey after it approves Sweden's membership of NATO. Turkey on the other hand has NO such incentive to approve Sweden's membership once it gets it's hands on those F-16s. So with his record if Erdogan thinks he can just stroll onto the car lot and drive off behind the wheel of a new Porsche all on the promise (cross my heart and hope to die) that he'll pay 'tomorrow'? Think again.

[Albany Rifles]

Nice S-400s you have there, Erdogan.

Shame if something could impact you if don't approve Sweden!

[Amled]

Sorry no deal. The US still has an incentive to sell F-16s to Turkey after it approves Sweden's membership of NATO. Turkey on the other hand has NO such incentive to approve Sweden's membership once it gets it's hands on those F-16s. So with his record if Erdogan thinks he can just stroll onto the car lot and drive off behind the wheel of a new Porsche all on the promise (cross my heart and hope to die) that he'll pay 'tomorrow'? Think again.

You know, for almost two years. Ever since Sweden and Finland announced their intention to join NATO, Turkey; and its running cur hound… Hungary,
has been letting the two countries coming within sniffing distance of joining…before throwing a new obstacle into their path!
The lifting of the economic sanctions Sweden and other European nations imposed on Turkey. Sanctions imposed,
when Turkey sent armed forces into Syria where the Coalition and the Kurds were fighting ISIS.
But instead of joining the fight against ISIS, the Turks attacked the Kurds!
Then there were the “dangerous Kurdish terrorists”, roaming the streets of Swedish cities that Turkey wanted deported to face “justice” in Turkey!
One was a caricature artist, who had made the mistake of drawing an unflattering drawing of Erdogan;
which in Turkey was considered lèse-majesté, and as such deserving prison!
There was also the Turkish election that had to be held before any decision was reached!
Followed by their “abhorrence” at the Swedish State permitting a few individuals to openly burn copies of the Quran!
In respect to the F-16 deal, Turkey now wants all and sundry to actually believe that “this” time, they’ll stick by their promise!!!
Based on their past history, Biden would be perfectly in his right to say: “Yahh right…pull the other one!!!”

[TopHatter]

Turkey's president submits protocol for Sweden's admission into NATO to parliament for ratification
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has submitted a protocol for Sweden’s admission into NATO to Turkey’s parliament for ratification, his office said Monday, bringing the Nordic country a step closer to membership in the military alliance.

Erdogan had been delaying ratification of Sweden’s membership, accusing Stockholm of being too soft on Kurdish militants and other groups his country considers to be security threats. Turkey also was angered by a series of Quran-burning protests in Sweden.

All 31 NATO allies must endorse Sweden’s membership. Turkey and Hungary are the only two allies that have yet to ratify it.

A brief statement from the presidential communications directorate said Erdogan had signed the protocol on Sweden's NATO accession, which was then submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly. It was not known when Sweden’s membership would come to the floor.

Sweden welcomed the move.

“Glad to hear that Turkish President Erdoğan has now handed over the ratification documents to the Turkish Parliament," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "Now it remains for Parliament to deal with the issue. We look forward to becoming a member of NATO.”

Sweden and its neighbor Finland abandoned decades of military nonalignment and sought protection under NATO's security umbrella after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Finland joined the military alliance in April after Turkey lifted its objections to its membership, saying Helsinki had taken steps to address Ankara's security concerns.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who had urged Turkey earlier this month to quickly ratif y Sweden's membership, also hailed the moves Monday.

“I look forward to a speedy vote to ratify, and to welcoming Sweden as a full NATO ally very soon,” he said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. “As I told President Erdogan when we spoke on the weekend, this will make the whole Alliance stronger and more secure.”

Erdogan had dropped his opposition to Sweden's membership at a NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital in July, but still delayed sending the protocol to parliament for ratification.

Turkey lifted its opposition after U.S. President Joe Biden's administration signaled it would let Turkey buy 40 new F-16 fighter jets and modernization kits from the United States. Ankara also received assurances from Sweden that it would help revive Turkey’s own quest to join the European Union.

Under the deal, NATO as an organization agreed to address Turkey’s concerns about terrorism. Stoltenberg said he had appointed an assistant secretary general to serve as his special coordinator for counter-terrorism.
_______

[Albany Rifles]

The worst thing is Erdogan just sat on this to flex some for home consumption. There were NO cogent reasons for Turkey to hold out over this.

Sorry...typed faster than I thought.

[Amled]

Let’s hope that this third or fourth is the charm! Erdogan has waved acceptance under Sweden’s nose a number of times before, and then…something!
Ok this time a ratification protocol has been sent to the Turkish Parliament. Erdogan’s rubber-stamp parliament!!!
If they nay-say, it he can always claim that Turkey is a democracy, and even there a President has to follow their directions!!!
As for Hungary?
Their economy is in shatters.
So and unless Putin slipped Orban a multi-billion ruble check when they shook hands, then Orban and Hungary needs to mend their fences with the EU and NATO.

https://apnews.com/article/putin-orb...b890d5ecce5d2e

[Amled]

https://www.euractiv.com/section/def...ato-accession/

Hungary’s president says Swedish officials must make their case for NATO accession

Some months back Hungary’s Victor Orban quite firmly declared that Hungary would not be the last country to block Sweden’s accession to NATO.
Alas for him; with Erdogan bailing by having the Turkish Parliament ratify Sweden’s application!
Guess who’s standing there all alone, like the last little piggy???
Wonder how fast he’ll backtrack and have his own little “rubber-stamp” parliament push through a ratification process?

[Ironduke]

Orban wants a bribe.

When they say "Sweden must make its case" and "they must convince our parliamentarians", of course this really means "give us billions of dollars".

[Monash]

The appropriate response is 'How about we don't?' Followed by 'Oh and BTW we're thinking of reviewing certain EU subsidies, purely for budgetary reasons of course! Sorry if your impacted but these things happen you know.'

[Amled]

Turkish parliamentary committee delays decision on Sweden’s NATO membership bid

https://apnews.com/article/turkey-sw...9b4738eea9c3fd

The SOB has done it again!
For what now…the fifth time Turkey has put a road block in Sweden’s path to NATO!!!
It’s like an old Tex Avery cartoon, where the foil is allowed within sniffing distance of a desired object, when the rug is jerked away from under its feet!!!
Yes…yes this time it’s the Turkish parliament that’s putting up the road blocks.
Erdogan has his back covered, he can claim that he has no objection to Sweden joining NATO, that it is now up to the Turkish parliament.
Pull the other one asshole!!!
The Turkish parliament is dominated by a coalition, which again is dominated by Erdogan’s AK Party.
The AK a political party that Erdogan rules with an iron hand, and where if he says squat…they squat.
So it’s most likely that it’s Erdogan pulling the strings on the delay, which leaves the question of what he wants this time?
Another backhander?
Or maybe it’s just a sop to his political crony’s; giving them the appearance to the outside world, that they are the one’s making decisions.

[Monash]

Turkey can only delay so many times before the rest of NATO loses patience and members start to make their displeasure clear. I'm sure they have already received 'feedback' regarding this latest delay. So a bit more patience is required on Sweden's side as well I think. Yes we all know they shouldn't have to wait but in the end it IS happening, whether Erdogan likes it or not.

[Amled]

Turkey can only delay so many times before the rest of NATO loses patience and members start to make their displeasure clear. I'm sure they have already received 'feedback' regarding this latest delay. So a bit more patience is required on Sweden's side as well I think. Yes we all know they shouldn't have to wait but in the end it IS happening, whether Erdogan likes it or not.

I’m sure that you are right, that sooner or later Sweden will join NATO. But the question is when? It’s now been 18 months and five Turkish roadblocks since Sweden applied.
You mentioned that other NATO nations might be losing patience with Turkey. Yet I think it was you, who in a post a while back; very rightly, pointed out how vital Turkey is to NATO’s northern flank. So there’s really nothing anyone can do except wait, until Turkey finish playing games.
There is one light point, and that is that for years Turkey has been trying to join the EU.
An EU where both Finland and Sweden are members!
Ahh…to be a fly on the wall at the next closed meeting of EU ministers where they meet to discuss applications from countries desiring to join the EU, when Turkey was proposed…

[Amled]

https://nordicmonitor.com/2023/11/tu...-bid-approval/

Turkey demands Sweden silence journalists, shut down news outlet to secure NATO bid approval

So the other shoe has fallen!
This time Erdogan’s demands strike at heart one of Sweden’s old democratic traditions: Freedom of the Press!!!
The SOB is yanking them around the center ring!
You have to wonder what’s his next target; their judicial system?