Sweden resumes arms exports to Turkey after NATO application
The Swedish authority tasked with controlling the export of military equipment said on Friday it had approved the resumption of exports of military equipment to Turkey, restoring a ban that had been in place since 2019.
The policy reversal is linked to Sweden and Finland’s bid to join NATO, where the Nordic countries applied for membership earlier this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But their bid faced a hurdle when Türkiye raised objections to their support for the PKK terrorist organization and its Syrian branch, the YPG. Any bid to join NATO requires unanimous support from each of its 30 members.
Ankara requested the lifting of arms export restrictions after Sweden and Finland applied to join the military alliance in mid-May, which still needs ratification from Turkey.
The Inspectorate of Strategic Products (ISP) said on Friday that it had resumed licensing military exports to Türkiye.
“The government has made the assessment that Swedish membership in NATO is the best way to protect the security of Sweden and the Swedish people,” says ISP in a statement.
“Sweden’s application for NATO membership greatly strengthens the defense and security policy arguments for approving the export of military equipment to other member states, including Türkiye,” the agency said.
The ISP said it had approved exports related to “electronic equipment”, “software” and “technical assistance” to Türkiye in the third quarter but did not disclose which companies or products had been given the go-ahead, citing confidentiality.
“With regard to the changed defense and security policy conditions, ISP has, after a complete review, decided to grant permission for follow-up deliveries from the Swedish defense industry to Türkiye,” says the authority.
The three countries reached a breakthrough agreement on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid in June, where Sweden and Finland agreed on a series of measures to be taken to address Turkey’s concerns over the candidacies.
So far, 28 of NATO’s 30 member states have ratified Sweden’s and Finland’s accession. Only Hungary and Turkey remain.
Stockholm and Helsinki, which both reversed decades of non-alignment when they applied for membership after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had expected the application process to go quickly, having been assured they would be welcomed “with open arms.”
Even after Sweden and Finland were formally invited, Ankara insisted it could still block entry into the Western alliance if it believes the Nordic countries have failed to keep their promises.
Sweden and Finland had imposed an arms export embargo on Türkiye following their military operation to clear northern Syria east of the Euphrates of the PKK and YPG in 2019. The ISP revoked existing permits and granted no new ones since then although no formal embargo existed.
Turkey said in May this year that it had received positive signals about lifting the embargo.