Armenian Turkologist: Türkiye shows diplomatic master class

Armenian Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan has said that much expectedly, the Turkish parliament has finally, after almost two years of diplomatic game, ratified Sweden's application to join NATO, Caliber.Az reports

"Expectedly, because Türkiye was able to get the maximum out of this banal procedure, namely:

1. Ankara was able to raise its political weight in NATO thus expanding its strategic autonomy.
2. It gained manoeuvrability in relations with Russia by 'selling' to the latter its temporary stance on Sweden.
3. Forced the U.S. to restart negotiations on the supply of advanced military technologies
4. And finally, a pleasant bonus: it has significantly complicated the life of Kurdish figures (terrorists - ed.) in Europe.

A diplomatic master class from a country that knows where and what it is playing. This is something worth learning," Geghamyan writes.

To recap, the Turkish parliament on January 23 approved the bill regarding Sweden's accession protocol to NATO. 

After discussion on the bill approving the protocol on Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Turkish parliament, the bill was approved by 287 out of 346 members of the parliament who participated in the vote.

While 55 members of the parliament voted "against" the bill, four members “abstained.”

Finland and Sweden – both Nordic countries close to or bordering Russia – applied for NATO membership soon after Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022.