Turkey will not lift its opposition to Sweden joining NATO unless it stops harbouring groups Ankara considers to be terrorists, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.
SS: Erdogan continues to delay Sweden's admission into NATO over concerns about support for Kurdish nationalist groups within Sweden. This comes at a time of enhanced aggression from adversaries and off thr heels of Finland's accession into the group. While there might not be as pressing a need to get Sweden into NATO with Finland now creatin buffer along the Russian border, Turkish demands still cause irritation among NATO members.
while we may not like Erdogan, Turkey is a critical component of the alliance. Turkey controls the Bosphorus and thus movement between the Black and Mediterranean seas. The Turkish arms industry has also blossomed in recent years and can do well to bring countries that traditionally don't buy Western arms into a position where they might (cross compatibility of systems). Turkey also provides a foothold in the Middle East as well as a place for NATO to eventually expand into the Caucuses and even the Caspian should it choose.
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