Turkey's parliament

Henri Barkey, the Cohen Professor of International Relations at Lehigh University and Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins Thanos Davelis to discuss the vote on Sweden in Turkey's Parliament and look at the lessons US policymakers should walk away with from Erdogan's handling of Sweden's NATO accession.

Turkey's president finally approved Sweden's bid to join NATO on Thursday, ending months of delay and leaving only Hungary standing in the way of Stockholm's membership of the military alliance.

The US ambassador to Turkey said he anticipates that President Tayyip Erdogan will give a final sign-off on Sweden's NATO membership within days, triggering rapid steps toward US Congress endorsing a sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara.

US President Joe Biden sent a letter to leaders of key Capitol Hill committees on Wednesday informing them of his intention to begin the formal notification process for the sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 aircraft to Turkey once Ankara completes Sweden's NATO accession process.

Turkey's parliament is widely expected to approve Sweden's NATO membership bid on Tuesday, clearing the biggest remaining hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance.

Ankara expects Washington to "act in accordance with the spirit of alliance and fulfill the commitments made" for the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan reportedly told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a phone call on Wednesday. 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted on Tuesday as saying that positive developments on the US sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara, and on Canada's arms embargo, would help Turkey's parliament move toward ratifying Sweden's NATO membership bid.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Canada and the United States were insisting that Ankara ratify Sweden's NATO membership bid before Canada resumes the export of drone cameras to Turkey, the text of an interview with media showed on Friday.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was on Wednesday quoted as saying that he expected steps from the US Congress on the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara after submitting a bill to ratify Sweden's NATO membership to Turkey's parliament.

Sweden on Tuesday welcomed a decision by the foreign affairs commission of Turkey's parliament to debate on Thursday a bill approving NATO membership for Stockholm.

"That is welcome information," Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said in a text to Reuters. Sweden looks forward to being a member of NATO." [Reuters]