Turkey achieves ‘a gain from a loss’ by giving green light to Finnish, Swedish NATO membership
A pair of Turkish Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcons escort a USAF B-52H Stratofortress through Turkish airspace in May 2021. (Photo: USAF/Staff Sgt Jason Allred)
In extracting concessions before lifting its veto to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, Turkey has been able to declare a diplomatic victory — but how much of an achievement is it?
The journey to NATO for Finland and Sweden reached a new milestone on 28 June following a quadrilateral meeting in Madrid, just before a summit of Alliance members saw the adoption of a new strategic concept.
Turkey, Sweden and Finland issued a ten-point trilateral memorandum after the meeting, which was also attended by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
According to the memorandum, Finland and Sweden fully support Turkey in countering threats to its national security, particularly in the fight against terrorism, and both countries pledged to lift arms embargoes imposed on Turkey in 2019 following operations in northern Syria.
Sweden imposed
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