Turkey wants to buy F16 planes from the US before accepting Sweden in NATO.
The US wants Turkey to approve Sweden in NATO before selling F16 planes to Turkey.
– It’s a kind of hostage drama, says Turkey expert Paul Levin.
Two police officers were injured by shrapnel when a PKK suicide bomber blew himself up outside Turkey’s Interior Ministry in Ankara. The attack happened at the same time as Turkey’s parliament opened after the summer break.
President Erdogan has promised that the National Assembly will vote on Swedish NATO membership, but there is no date yet. In his speech on Sunday, he did not mention Sweden.
The Turkey connoisseur: “A lockdown”
Before Turkey says yes to Sweden, it wants to buy American F-16 planes. From the US side, they do not want to make any deal before Turkey says yes.
– It’s a deadlock, a kind of hostage drama where neither party trusts the other and dares to act first. For Sweden, it is very important that it gets some sort of solution, says Turkey expert Paul Levin to TV4 Nyheterna.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson writes on X that Sweden condemns the attack and stands by its long-term commitment to fight terrorism together with Turkey.
The vice president: Sweden has not done enough
During the day, Turkey’s Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz talked about Sweden not doing enough to live up to the agreement from last summer to work against the PKK.
– What I think Ankara would like is, for example, for Swedish prosecutors to look at demonstrations where PKK flags are waved. Investigations with the new Swedish terrorist crime laws I think would be appreciated in Ankara, says Paul Levin.