The Council of Ministers of Turkey will hold, tomorrow Tuesday, at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, its first meeting for 2024 under the chairmanship of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The main topics that will be discussed are the escalation of the conflicts with the Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq and northern Syria, the issue of Sweden’s accession to NATO, the Turkish request for the purchase of F-16 fighter jets from the USA, but also the pension increases.

The relevant protocol for Sweden’s accession to NATO was approved, on December 26, by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish National Assembly and it is expected to be included in the agenda of the Plenary. The fact that the issue is on the agenda of the Council of Ministers removes the possibility that it will be discussed in the Plenary session of the Turkish National Assembly tomorrow, the first day of the meeting of Turkish parliamentarians after their return from the New Year holidays. Besides, the attacks against the Turkish military forces in Iraq and Syria set new standards regarding Ankara’s stance on this matter.

The Council of Ministers is expected to discuss the Turkish request for the purchase of F-16 fighter jets from the US, in the perspective of a simultaneous decision by the USA with Ankara’s lifting of the impasse on the issue of Sweden, a position which the Turkish president had expressed a few days ago.

Extensive air and ground operations against Kurdish groups in northern Iraq and northern Syria, where 31 Turkish soldiers have been killed since last October, will also be discussed at tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting, while Defense and Foreign Ministers Yasar Güler and Hakan Fidan, will inform the Plenary of the National Assembly about this, tomorrow at 15:00.

The war in Gaza and the tension in the Red Sea will also be discussed in the Cabinet.