In the analysis, it was argued that President Tayyip Erdoğan made moves towards the elections, while the F-35 and S-400 issues would also be on the agenda.
Turkey’s blockade of negotiations on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO was reflected in the world press in different ways.
While the Russian-Ukrainian war continued with all its intensity on its 85th day, Turkey, Finland and Sweden blocked the first step of the rapid accession process to NATO during the talks held yesterday in the Belgian capital Brussels.
President Tayyip Erdogan called both countries a “terrorist guesthouse” and said he would not accept their membership on the grounds that they harbored FETÖ and PKK members and supported terrorism.
The developments were also widely reported in the foreign press.
“He’s trying to increase votes”
An analysis in the Guardian, one of the UK’s leading newspapers, argued that “Erdogan is trying to increase his vote in the face of rising inflation to 66.9 percent and elections to be held next summer.”
The analysis also included the views of Jonathan Eyal of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
“F-35 and S-400 are debatable”
Eyal argued that Erdogan has demands from Sweden and Finland as well as from the United States, claiming that the diplomatic crisis created by the S-400 air defense system purchased from Russia and the subsequent removal of Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program can also be discussed in this process.
According to information from diplomatic sources who did not share his identity, the problem could be resolved through talks between higher-level officials, not between ambassadors, the German newspaper report on the website of Deutsche Welle (DW), one of Germany’s prestigious media outlets.
“Blackmail to NATO”
An analysis in Israel’s Jerusalem Post newspaper claimed that “Turkey is trying to blackmail NATO and its main desire is to silence dissenting voices in Finland and Sweden.”
“Open door left”
The assessment, published in the Washington Post, one of the leading newspapers in the US, stated that “Ankara left the door open for the membership of the two countries in exchange for Sweden and Finland fulfilling Erdogan’s demands.”
According to the report, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez of the Democratic Party stated that Turkey made the move at a time when it was planning to buy F-16 fighter jets, and said that US President Joe Biden should consider this.
“Dangerous game”
A report in Japan’s national newspaper, Nikkei Asia, argued that the latest developments “reflect Turkey’s security concerns and the concessions it expects from the United States on difficult issues such as the purchase of the F-16, but Erdogan is playing a dangerous political game.”
Turkey’s demands
According to three Turkish officials who spoke to Bloomberg, one of the leading US media outlets, Ankara wants Finland and Sweden to openly condemn the PKK.
Turkey is also demanding that Finland and Sweden lift the arms embargo imposed on Ankara following the entry into Syria in 2019.
In addition, according to officials, Ankara wants to rejoin the F-35 fighter jet program, from which it was removed after purchasing S-400 missile defense systems from Russia.
Turkey is also demanding that its demands for the purchase of F-16 fighter jets from the United States be met and that Washington lift the S-400 sanctions.
