17 Oct 2026
Expert explains what Turkey gained in delaying Sweden's NATO bid
The Turkish parliament voted 287 to 55 to approve Sweden's NATO membership bid on Tuesday, bringing the Nordic country one step closer to joining the military alliance.
Varuzhan Geghamyan, a Yerevan-based expert on the Middle East and the South Caucasus, says Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is likely to sign the ratification in a short period of time.
Sweden applied to join NATO in the spring of 2022 after the outbreak of the Ukraine war. Turkey, as a member of the alliance, delayed the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership for nearly two years.
“During the past two years, Turkey got the most out of this simple situation," Geghamyan wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.
"And what did Turkey gain? Below are Ankara's main achievements:
1. Ankara enhanced its role in NATO.
2. Due to the ratification delays, Ankara gained the opportunity to maneuver in relations with Russia, "selling" its temporary position on Sweden to the latter.
3. Turkey forced the U.S. to restart negotiations on the supply of advanced military technologies frozen since 2018.
4. It significantly restricted and complicated the activities of Kurdish forces in Sweden and throughout Europe.
In short, it was a diplomatic and political master class," the expert said.
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