Analysts: USA, the 'key' for Turkey to remove its veto on Sweden's NATO membership

2023-06-30 17:44:14, Kosova & Bota CNA

Analysts: USA, the 'key' for Turkey to remove its veto on

Turkey condemned the public burning of a copy of the Koran in Stockholm on Wednesday, an incident analysts say is likely to give Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan more reason to block Sweden's NATO membership. Mr Erdogan has already threatened to do so, citing claims that Stockholm harbors Kurdish separatists, who he says are terrorists. VOA Correspondent Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul.

A man's burning of a Koran outside a Stockholm mosque appears to be the latest setback in Sweden's bid to join NATO.

Turkish authorities condemned the burning of the Muslim holy book, considering it an abominable act.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cited a similar incident in January this year in Stockholm, when he opposed Sweden's request to join the military alliance.

Some analysts say that Mr. Erdogan's victory in the May elections will strengthen his negotiating position in front of the country's NATO partners.

" We are likely to see the same thing. President Erdo?an, perhaps emboldened by the results of the elections and without an electoral confrontation for five years, may increase the price of the conditions for the ratification of the protocol of Sweden's membership in NATO", says Asli Aydintasbas, of the Brookings Institute .

Mr. Erdogan accuses Sweden of supporting Kurdish separatists from the PKK political organization, a group designated by the United States and the European Union as a terrorist organization. He is asking Stockholm to end public support for the PKK, as well as extradite its members to Turkey, as conditions for the country's membership in the alliance. On Tuesday, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said his government has met Ankara's security-related demands.

Analysts say Washington is the key to solving the problem. Turkey wants the United States to approve the decision to sell Ankara new US fighter jets, the F16, as well as equipment to modernize its existing fleet. This gives Washington an advantage.

" Perhaps a common understanding will be reached, for America to ensure the modernization of the F16 aircraft that Turkey currently has, as well as the purchase of new aircraft. I do not think that Turkey is seeking to stop the NATO expansion process. But at the moment, the longer Sweden's membership is postponed, the better it is for Russia ," says Huseyin Bagci, of the Foreign Policy Institute.

President Biden has recently expressed his support for the sale of fighter jets to Turkey. But that doesn't seem to be the only obstacle. Analysts say Mr Erdogan may also be seeking an invitation to visit Washington as a condition for lifting the veto on Sweden.

" President Erdogan has been in power for more than twenty years and Biden is the only American president who has refused to meet him officially, either in the American capital or in the Turkish capital. So maybe one of Erdogan's priorities will be to end this isolation, or exclusion from Washington ", says Serhat Guvenc, of Kadir Has University.

Analysts say that the upcoming NATO meeting could serve as an opportunity for the United States and Turkey to put aside their differences and reach an agreement on the admission of Sweden to the alliance, as well as to provide Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a invitation to Washington./ VOA