Turkologist: Turkey achieved a lot before approving Sweden’s NATO membership bid

The Turkish parliament has approved Sweden’s NATO membership bid. Seizing the opportunity, Turkey secured another political victory. Turkologist Tiran Lokmagyozyan said this to ABC media.

“Turkey’s precondition was the return of the Kurds who had found refuge in Sweden. Turkey’s veto on Sweden’s NATO membership came as a blow to NATO, but this did not prevent Turkey from dictating its terms. Today, I think no one can clearly say why Erdogan has agreed to this, but it is obvious that he has notched up a political victory,” the Turkologist said.

According to him, Sweden was even ready to change humanitarian laws to satisfy Turkey’s demands.

“We know that Sweden has returned some Kurds, but we cannot say for sure who and how many people have been returned. They agreed to change the laws. If Turkey had demanded more, it would have faced rather strong pressure from the West,” Lokmagyozyan said.

According to him, Turkey achieved a lot before approving Sweden’s NATO membership bid.

In light of the events in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022.

In negotiations with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sweden, as an EU member, has agreed to contribute to the acceleration of Turkey’s EU membership process in exchange for the approval of its bid.