Turkey Claims Concessions But Gains Little Of Substance From Nato Expansion Deal

It was criticised by his political opponents as too little, shrugged off as unenforceable by experts and ultimately may do little to improve his political fortunes ahead of major elections scheduled for a year from now.

- Borzou Daragahi

But Turkey's agreement to allow Sweden and Finland to join Nato in exchange for concessions generated positive press and accolades among supporters of the government and sympathetic media, a rare island of good news for president Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid a sea of economic troubles.

"Turkey got what it wanted," declared the staunchly pro-government A Haber TV. The memorandum of understanding signed on Tuesday will probably cool hostility towards Turkey in Washington and other capitals at a time when the Western powers are struggling to present unity in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

President Joe Biden and other Nato leaders had urged Turkey, Sweden and Finland to put the matter to rest before the summit got under way. Turkey was feeling the pressure, as was Sweden, whose historic sympathy for ethnic Kurds was viewed as the primary stumbling block to allowing it and Finland into the alliance.

"It was a diplomatic breakthrough," said Minna Alander, a northern Europe specialist at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin. "Erdogan needed a win and he got something that he could present as such."

The Turkish leader had been threatening to scuttle plans to allow Sweden and Finland to join Nato, arguing the two countries were not doing enough to fight what he described as terrorism. His government had demanded the two countries hand over terrorism suspects and admit past wrongs.

Mr Erdogan also demanded that Finland and Sweden lift an arms embargo imposed against Turkey in 2019 and distance themselves from Kurdish nationalist groups that have a presence in Scandinavia before they are allowed to join the alliance. They agreed. But Stockholm and Finland would have likely had to drop the arms embargo if they had joined Nato anyway.