Turkey’s government signed an agreement with Sweden and Finland to support the two Nordic countries’ entry into NATO. The agreement was signed in Madrid, where the leaders of the member states of the alliance meet until Thursday (30), under the patronage of US President Joe Biden.
Turkish resistance was the main one in what is one of the major geopolitical side effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: the end of the neutrality of northern European neighbors, two centuries in the Swedish case and seven decades in the Finnish case.
Ankara had been resisting, claiming that both nations supported groups opposing the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It is still unclear what was promised by the Nordics to the Turk, but according to a statement from the Presidency in Helsinki, the foreign ministers of the three countries signed a memorandum to continue the accession process.
Erdogan, who met with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, had previously spoken to Biden on the phone. According to the White House, the terms of the conversation were general, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan tried to downplay the chief’s role in the arrangement.
What wasn’t spelled out in full was the price of the bargain. Ever since he became estranged from the US under Donald Trump and became close to Vladimir Putin, Erdogan has paid a military price.
Having purchased advanced anti-aircraft systems from Moscow, Turkey was excluded from the multinational production program for the American fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet.
That left the country, which has active military involvement in places like Syria and Libya, as well as projecting influence at points like
Caucasus and the Black Sea, in a tricky position: its fleet of 260 F-16 fighters is aging rapidly. Speculation is that the conversation with Biden may have unlocked at least one long-delayed purchase of more modern models of the plane to replace those in operation.
As one of NATO’s 30 members, Turkey had the right to veto the two Nordics’ entry into the alliance. If the announcement advances at the Madrid summit, which already foresees the increase of troops in Eastern Europe to contain the Russian threat, the differences between the countries will be in the background in terms of the most important news of the meeting.
It remains to be seen now the impact of the support on the good relationship between Erdogan and Putin, which extends to military and energy cooperation.
