Bloomberg: Turkey-US “diplomatic game” with F-16s for Sweden’s NATO accession

“Diplomatic game” between Turkey and the USA for the inclusion of Sweden in NATO through the F-16 fighters “sees” in its analysis the Bloomberg agency.

“Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu put fresh pressure on Sweden to make concessions while traveling to the US for talks on the sale of F-16 fighter jets, which may hinge on Turkey ratifying NATO expansion,” it said.

Cavusoglu is expected to meet his US counterpart Anthony Blinken in Washington later on Wednesday (8.30am Greek time) to discuss the sale of fighter jets as well as “Turkey’s security concerns regarding Kurdish fighters supported by the US in Syria”.

Turkey initially agreed to the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, but the expansion of the Alliance has stalled as Ankara insists on not ratifying the applications. The US, the most powerful country in the military alliance, has thrown its weight behind the Nordic nations, while also using the potential $20 billion sale of F-16s as a lure to “persuade” Ankara.

Cavusoglu’s meeting with Blinken comes amid rising tensions between Turkey and Sweden after protesters hung an upside-down effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Stockholm last week. The move was condemned by Swedish politicians. It was also reported to the police as libel, but a Swedish prosecutor refused to investigate the incident, saying it did not constitute a crime under Swedish law. The decision not to take legal action is “absurd”, Cavusoglu commented on Tuesday during a joint press conference with his visiting Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdolakhian.

Turkey has continued to call on Sweden to “crack down” on groups that are illegal in Turkey, while Sweden insists it is abiding by the agreement reached at the NATO summit in June last year in Madrid, which allowed the enlargement process to proceed despite Turkey’s initial resistance. However, Ankara remains unsatisfied, and wants Sweden to take further steps, including the extradition of suspects, to change its position. But Sweden’s government cannot overrule the courts in extradition cases since the judiciary has refused to extradite the accused to Ankara.

“Either they will fall victim to these ‘mines’ who have placed ‘terrorists’, or we will proceed by implementing the agreement we have signed taking into account everyone’s safety”, Çavuşoğlu argued for his part. “The choice belongs to Sweden,” he added. As Erdogan prepares for crucial elections, likely to be held in May, and wants to consolidate nationalist support, the situation looks more impasse — even if NATO diplomats are confident it will be resolved eventually, possibly at the summit of NATO in Vilnius in July.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin pointed out that there should be no obstacles to the Nordic countries joining NATO, given that they meet all the criteria for membership set by the alliance.

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