NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has urged Turkey not to veto Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance, ahead of a meeting this month to try to overcome objections delaying Stockholm’s membership.
“Membership will make Sweden safer but also make NATO and Turkey stronger,” Secretary-General Stoltenberg told journalists in Istanbul on Sunday after meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his newly appointed foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, the former head of the intelligence agency.
“I look forward to finalizing Sweden’s accession as soon as possible,” Stoltenberg added.
Will Turkey support the election of Sweden as a member of NATO? What will Erdogan's policy be after? With Turkey's support, can Azerbaijan have a chance to become a member of NATO?
British journalist and political scientist Neil Watson said to Ednews that currently, it appears that Turkey, alongside Hungary, does not agree with Sweden from becoming a NATO member:
"This is due to Turkish intelligence establishing that members of Kurdish terrorist groups are being permitted to be active in Sweden, including the PKK, whose flag was projected on the walls of the Swedish Parliament to protest against President Erdogan's re-election. Despite Sweden changing its terrorism laws this year, Ankara claims this is insufficient. Turkey also claims that the Swedish government supported the burning of the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm."
N. Watson thinks that President Erdogan will not succumb to the pressure:
"He regards these as insults against Turkey and the Islamic world. Furthermore, before his re-election, President Erdogan stated that he and President Putin enjoy a "special relationship". As the enlargement and emboldening of NATO are solely aimed at presenting a threat to Russia to expedite resolution of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, Turkey will probably wish to retain its current status."
According to him, Turkey often gives the impression of being an isolated voice within NATO, despite its power and influence:
"It is also one of the NATO members that has the most independent foreign policy and is more likely to be pragmatic about its allegiances and alliances. I am sure it would welcome its sister country – Azerbaijan - becoming a NATO member and would feel even more empowered. NATO members would certainly like to placate Turkey, and Azerbaijan's accession could achieve this. Furthermore, the new geopolitical standing of Azerbaijan, located between Russia and Iran, with strong links to Israel and Turkey and burgeoning significance to the West due to increasing gas flows and transportation links means that NATO should welcome Azerbaijani membership."
Ulviyya Shahin
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