In the United States, people are outraged that Turkey does not define Hamas as a terrorist organization, but instead talks about freedom fighters.
Turkey is expected to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership soon.
– It is impossible to say whether the membership will be approved today, senior researcher at the Institute for Foreign Affairs Toni Alaranta commented in aam’s interview.
There is no exact information on whether the issue will be dealt with in Turkey today.
– Certainly, there is a lot of monitoring there, what kind of communication comes from the US end in the final meters regarding the fighter jet deals, says Alaranta.
The Turkish Parliament declared yesterday that it would strengthen its anti-terrorist measures in Iraq and Syria against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
– This is the broader reference framework in which the parliament votes on Sweden’s ratification, Alaranta describes.
In the US, on the other hand, there have been senators who have opposed the sale of fighter jets to Turkey.
– The line has now yielded. It is affected, for example, by the fact that Turkey has buried the hatchet with Greece.
One justification for the US not sending fighter jets to Turkey has been that Turkey would use the jets to threaten Greece.
– This conflict has now calmed down a bit. It has become a new feature because people in the United States are outraged that Turkey does not define Hamas as a terrorist organization, but instead talks about freedom fighters. It remains to be seen whether it will somehow affect the decision of the Congress on the fighter jets.
Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. Among others, the United States and the EU classify it as a terrorist organization.
For a long time, a pattern has been built in which Turkey gets the fighters and Sweden gets the ratification.
Hungary has not yet accepted Sweden’s membership. Hungarian news website Telex reports on Monday the Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjénin the comment that the government will not present the approval of Sweden’s NATO membership to the parliament during the spring.