Turkey is in no hurry and the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee may delay taking up Sweden’s NATO application until the beginning of next year, reports Bloomberg.
– We are of course not in a hurry, we have our own priorities, says Fuat Oktay, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, in an interview with the news agency.
According to Oktay, the US should not use the issue of Sweden’s NATO application as a condition in the negotiations to sell the F-16 fighter jet to Turkey. According to him, the two processes should be able to run forward in parallel.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has forwarded Sweden’s NATO application to the Turkish parliament for ratification. But before a vote can take place in the chamber, the matter must pass the foreign affairs committee.
Fuat Oktay states that he plans to meet Sweden’s ambassador in Ankara, Malena Mård, to discuss the Swedish measures against terrorism.
Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO countries that have not yet said yes to Sweden in the alliance.