Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey, on Thursday, January 25 (the fifth day) signed Sweden’s application for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Olaf Kristerson, the Prime Minister of Sweden, wrote on social media that Turkey’s decision was a fundamental step towards Sweden’s NATO membership.
Turkey’s parliament last week approved Sweden’s NATO membership application.
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Qasr Sefid received the vote of the Parliament of Turkey to accept Sweden as a member of NATO
Erdoğan previously called Sweden’s request to purchase warplanes from the United States.
Hungary is now the only NATO member that has not approved Sweden’s membership application. The Prime Minister of Sweden announced on Thursday that he will meet Viktor Orbán, his Hungarian counterpart, in Brussels next week.
According to Reuters news agency, the main focus of the talks between the two leaders is Sweden’s membership in NATO, and Sweden is trying to remove the remaining obstacles.
If Turkey is not a member, it would have postponed Sweden’s membership for more than a year and accused the country of harboring members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, a group that Ankara has called a terrorist group.
Erdoğan also reacted strongly to the burning of copies of the Koran in Sweden.
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Erdogan warned Sweden about burning copies of the Koran
Erdogan called the approval of Sweden’s membership in NATO related to the agreement of the US Congress with Turkey’s request to purchase 40 F-16 fighter jets and equipment for the modernization of Turkey’s existing ships.
He also asked Canada and other NATO allies to lift the arms embargo on Turkey.
The President of the United States, Joe Biden, on Wednesday the 4th, by sending letters to the leaders of the foreign relations committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate, asked them to proceed with the sale of F-16 planes without delay after the final confirmation of Sweden’s membership by Turkey.
The Reuters news agency quoted an American official as saying that Biden in his letter asked for approval “without delay” for the sale of these planes to Turkey.
Reuters also quoted four well-informed sources as saying that Qasr al-Safid sent a letter to members of Congress early Wednesday, asking them to support the contract for the sale of F-16 fighter jets and the modernization of Ankara’s ships.