Sweden permits weapons shipments to Turkey following NATO membership

10/2/2022 7:21:53 AM

(MENAFN) The Swedish institution in charge of overseeing war material exports declared on September 30 that it has permitted military exports to Turkey after prohibiting them in 2019, citing Hurriyet Daily News.

Ankara demanded the relaxation of the restrictions after Sweden applied to join NATO in mid-May, which is still subject to Turkish ratification.

"The government has made the assessment that a Swedish membership in NATO is the best way to protect Sweden’s and the Swedish people’s security," the Inspectorate of Strategic Products stated in an announcement.

Following a Turkish military intervention in northeastern Syria, the ISP agreed to halt military shipments to Turkey in 2019.

"Sweden’s application for NATO membership to a large degree strengthen the defense and security policy arguments for approving exports of war materials to other member states, including Türkiye," the authority asserted.

Too far, 28 of the 30 NATO member nations have confirmed Sweden and Finland's membership. Only Hungary and Turkey remain in the alliance, but new members must be approved unanimously.

Stockholm and Helsinki, who reversed decades of non-alignment by applying for membership in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, had anticipated the application process to be short since they had received promises that they would be welcomed "with open arms."

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