Erdogan says he will try facilitate ratifying Sweden's bid to NATO

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he will try to facilitate ratification of Sweden’s bid to join NATO in the Turkish parliament, but expressed frustration that Stockholm has not addressed all of Ankara’s concerns. 

“We will try to facilitate the procedure as much as possible. At this point, we will try to show our best effort as much as we can, as long as our counterparts approach us positively,” Erdogan told reporters on his return from Kazakhstan, state media reported. He cautioned that the decision rests with the legislature.

Last month Erdogan submitted a bill to the Turkish parliament regarding Sweden’s application, roughly three months after he voiced approval for Stockholm’s bid to join the military alliance.

Sweden and Finland last year reversed their decades-long tradition of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Unanimous approval by alliance members is required in order for new countries to join the organization and Turkey has used this as leverage to pressure Stockholm and Helsinki to counter Kurdish groups it considers “terrorists” in exchange for Ankara’s “yes” on the accession.

Turkey accepted Finland’s bid in March, but has stalled in making a decision on Sweden’s application, saying that Stockholm has failed to address all of Ankara’s concerns. 

Sweden has a large and politically active Kurdish population. 

Erdogan did not hide his dismay about protests by supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on the streets of Stockholm, saying that stopping them was one of Turkey’s “most important” expectations from Sweden. 

But “no measures have been taken” regarding the activities of the PKK, according to Erdogan. “There is not a single step taken.”

It is not clear when the Turkish parliament will hold a vote on Sweden’s NATO bid. The legislature is currently prioritizing the 2024 budget and Erdogan suggested that the vote may not take place anytime soon. 

In order for Sweden’s bid to be ratified, it must be first approved by the legislature’s foreign affairs committee, then voted on by the parliament members, and finally signed into law by Erdogan.