With an electoral cycle in Türkiye now completed, the country’s powerful western allies believe it’s time to withdraw Tayyip Erdogan veto for her accession of Sweden to NATOwhich could help improve his relationship with the Biden administration and other Western partners.

Speaking to reporters at the end of the two-day NATO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Oslo, Norway, the Secretary General of the Alliance announced his intention to travel to Ankara soon to secure the ratification of Sweden’s membership at the upcoming summit in Vilnius, Lithuania next month. OUR Jens Stoltenberg he noted that “Sweden did the right thing” by adopting a new anti-terrorism law, so “the time has come for (Turkey) to ratify its membership”.

Last March, Ankara gave Finland the green light to join NATO, but retained its veto over Sweden, arguing that it had not done enough to combat the activities of “terrorist” organizations on its territory, meaning mainly Kurdish organizations. and the exiled Imam Fethullah Gülen’s network in the US. Apart from Turkey, Hungary has not yet ratified Sweden’s membership, although the government of Viktor Orban has not publicly explained the reasons for this delay.

“Now that Turkey’s elections are over, it is important that Turkey move forward with the ratification process,” said Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, whose country applied to join NATO along with its neighbor after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “There are high hopes that the Swedish flag will fly in Vilnius,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis.

Zelenskiy is calling for immediate membership, although a number of European countries see the issue as untimely while the war in Ukraine continues.

Ankara wants to secure compromises for Sweden’s entry, notable among which is its request to Washington to modernize the American F-16 fighters in the Turkish Air Force. These two issues were discussed between Tayyip Erdogan and Joe Biden last Monday, when the US president called his Turkish counterpart to congratulate him on his new election victory. Yesterday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said from Oslo that Sweden’s entry and Turkish F-16s were “separate issues,” but quickly added that “both are vital to European security” and should be resolved soon. that the big deal is in full swing.

The second important issue of the two-day Oslo summit was Ukraine’s request to join the North Atlantic Alliance. Jens Stoltenberg said “Moscow has no right to veto” Ukraine’s candidacy, but gave no clear timeline, contenting himself with the vague wording that “today we are focusing on how we can bring Ukraine closer to NATO, where it belongs.” In a similar vein, Anthony Blinken stated that “Ukraine’s rapprochement with NATO will be discussed at the next summit” in Vilnius and that the US remains “fully committed to strengthening relations” between Kiev and Brussels.

However, several member states, including some of the most powerful, have stressed that it would be extremely dangerous to raise the issue of Ukraine’s membership while the war with Russia continues. “NATO’s open door policy is valid, but at the same time it is clear that we cannot accept new members who are at war,” said German Foreign Minister Analena Bourbock.

But Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Sisarto also said that his country, which maintains good relations with Russia, would not accept the inclusion of a Ukrainian candidacy on the agenda of the Vilnius summit. “In this matter, we must clarify: the entry into NATO of a country at war cannot be on the agenda,” said the head of Hungarian diplomacy.

Turkish opposition is falling apart

The final official results of last Sunday’s elections were announced yesterday by the country’s Supreme Electoral Council, which confirmed the re-election of Tayyip Erdogan with a percentage of 52.18% against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s 47.82%. According to Turkish media reports, Erdogan will be sworn in tomorrow Saturday and immediately afterward will announce a new cabinet (the position of prime minister has been abolished by a constitutional amendment). The same reports suggest that former finance minister Mehmet Simsek, a man who inspires confidence in the markets, will take over the reins of the economy, which could herald a shift towards more orthodox policies. Meanwhile, the six-party opposition coalition is showing signs of disintegration. Ugur Poiraz, Ph.D. a spokesman for the far-right iYi party, which allied with Kılıçdaroğlu, said that “all unions are elective, and when elections are over, unions fall apart.” Meanwhile, imprisoned former leader of the pro-Kurdish HDP party Selahattin Demirtas announced his retirement from active political life, expressed disappointment at the party’s fall in the elections and criticized its current leadership for preventing him from running again for president, preferring to support Kilychdaroglu.