Turkiye is willing to hold off ratifying Sweden’s bid to join NATO this month as it awaits signs of U.S. support for its own request to buy F-16 jets, sources said, potentially disappointing bloc allies hoping to end 17 months of delay.
President Tayyip Erdogan elated a NATO summit in July by promising to send the bid to Turkiye’s parliament for ratification when it reopened in October, appearing to green-light Sweden after having raised objections over its alleged harbouring of terrorists.
However since parliament opened on Oct. 1, its foreign affairs commission, which would debate the NATO bid, has received almost 60 international agreements to review – excluding Sweden’s, official data shows.
Two people familiar with the situation said Ankara wanted to move in tandem with Washington, where the State Department is expected at some time to seek congressional approval for a $20-billion sale of F-16 fighters to Turkiye and dozens of modernisation kits.
