Negotiations for Turkey to Approve Sweden’s Bid to NATO Membership Devolve Into Ugly Bargaining – Conflict in Middle East May Further Complicate Things
The long soap opera of Sweden’s accession is ongoing, and in many ways, it has devolved into an unashamed bargain season over Turkey’s defense needs that are currently overlooked by its ‘partners’ in NATO.
Many times Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pictured as ‘blackmailing’ the West, as holding Sweden’s membership ‘hostage’ – but it does seem to be a mutual give-and-take political exercise that – ugly as it is to behold – is not that unusual.
Erdogan expects Washington to ‘simultaneously’ approve the sale of F-16 jets to Ankara in exchange for their ratifying Sweden’s stalled bid to join the NATO alliance.
Erdogan believes he did his ‘duty’ by referring Sweden’s NATO accession decision to the Turkish parliament,
