It was a busy day. In the morning, I saw Erdoğan wanted EU membership; when I checked again at night, Sweden was becoming a member, and briefly, I thought, Turkey at least got some visa freedom etc.
Türkiye demanded EU membership path for Sweden’s NATO bid but then accepted Sweden’s bid without becoming a member. So what happened?
In a surprising turn of events, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed a new condition for approving Sweden’s membership in NATO. He linked Ankara’s approval of Sweden’s NATO bid to Turkey finally joining the EU[1][2]. Erdogan suggested that if the EU embraces Turkey and opens the way for its membership, Turkey would back Sweden’s NATO bid[5]. This proposal was seen as a strategic move by Erdogan to push for progress in Turkey’s EU accession process.
However, despite initially demanding an EU membership path for Sweden’s NATO bid, Turkey ultimately accepted Sweden’s bid without becoming a member of the EU[3]. Turkey’s President Erdogan agreed to back Sweden’s bid to join NATO, clearing the pathway for Sweden to become a part of the military alliance[3]. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that Sweden would become a full member of the alliance[4].
The exact reasons behind Turkey’s change of stance are not explicitly mentioned in the search results. It is possible that there were negotiations or discussions between Turkey, Sweden, and other NATO member states that led to this outcome. The decision to accept Sweden’s NATO bid without Turkey becoming an EU member may have been influenced by various political, strategic, or diplomatic considerations.
Citations:
[1] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/erdogan-proposes-letting-sweden-join-nato-in-exchange-for-a-path-for-turkey-to-join-the-eu
[2] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/erdogan-links-swedens-nato-membership-turkeys-eu-accession-2023-07-10/
[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/07/11/swedens-path-to-nato-membership-cleared-after-turkey-greenlights-bid.html
[4] https://time.com/6293624/sweden-nato-erdogan/
[5] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/10/erdogan-links-swedens-nato-membership-to-turkeys-eu-accession
[6] https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkiye-demands-eu-membership-path-for-swedens-nato-bid-184586
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