According to insiders, Turkey is prepared to postpone ratifying Sweden’s application to join NATO this month to watch for indications of American backing for its desire to purchase F-16 planes. This might upset bloc allies wanting to end a 17-month delay.

At a NATO conference in July, President Tayyip Erdogan, who had previously voiced concerns about Sweden’s suspected harboring of terrorists, appeared to give the proposal the go-ahead by agreeing to submit it for confirmation when Turkey’s parliament reconvenes in October.

Official data reveals that apart from Sweden’s, around 60 international agreements have been submitted for review since parliament’s foreign affairs panel began meeting on October 1.

Two persons with knowledge of the matter said Ankara intended to coordinate its actions with those in Washington, where the State Department is anticipated to request legislative authorization at some point for the $20 billion sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey and several modernization kits.

According to a representative of Erdogan’s ruling A.K. Party, Turkey is not rushing to approve the NATO application and is waiting for evidence that the United States is acting concurrently, given the lack of confidence around the F-16s and Sweden issues.

A second individual knowledgeable of U.S.-Turkish negotiations claimed that a tentative agreement had been postponed. The proposal called for each party to take measures toward approving the other’s application to join NATO and its purchase of F-16 fighter jets.

Erdogan’s administration did not immediately address a timetable for Sweden’s ratification or any U.S. negotiations.

President Joe Biden supported the sale of F-16s for the sake of the alliance, the United States, and its relationship with Turkey, according to a representative for the U.S. State Department, which looked forward to Sweden joining NATO “in the near future.”

The spokeswoman responded, “We should do both of these things.”

NOT RUSHING

It is still anticipated that Turkey, NATO’s second-largest military, will ultimately support Sweden’s candidacy and that it will do so quickly.

Erdogan is not rushing, according to Turkish officials and foreign diplomats, especially in the wake of the bombing of Ankara on the first day of parliament and the days that followed, when the U.S. shot down a Turkish drone that was unmanned and was flying over northern Syria.

In response to the October 5 drone incident close to American troops, Erdogan stated last week: “Isn’t Turkey a NATO ally of the U.S.? How can we justify this? They only identify as partners when it is convenient for them.

After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Sweden and Finland submitted NATO membership applications. Finland became a member in April, historically expanding the Western Defense Alliance; nevertheless, Turkey and Hungary obstruct Sweden’s application.

Turkey asserts that Sweden must do more at home to crack down on the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which the European Union and the U.S. consider a terrorist organization.

Following a meeting with NATO colleagues on Friday in Brussels, Sweden’s defense minister, Yasar Guler, told reporters that additional counterterrorism measures were anticipated to be implemented there, adding that parliament “would have the final say” about ratification.

Ulf Kristersson, the prime minister of Sweden, declared on Friday that he was certain Sweden would join NATO and that the application process would be concluded “reasonably soon,” given that Stockholm had complied with all of its obligations under a pact struck with Helsinki and Ankara last year.

LEVERAGE

Erdogan, though, seems prepared to use the circumstance for other purposes. He publicly proposed improving Turkey’s F-16 force last month in exchange for Sweden’s approval.

Senior U.S. and Turkish officials had drafted a plan in which Erdogan would submit the NATO proposal to parliament; according to the second source, the State Department would request that the heads of the U.S. Senate and House foreign affairs committees review the F-16 deal. Washington is eager to expand NATO. But on October 1, the PKK claimed responsibility for the bomb assault near the government buildings in Ankara, dashed hopes for prompt approval.

As a result, Turkey increased its attacks on terrorist targets in Iraq and Syria, where the U.S. is aligned with certain Kurdish fighters, which resulted in the drone mishap. The second source claimed that the American-Turkish idea of advancing nearly parallel fell out of favor after that.

While Congress has concerns about Turkey’s human rights record and its decision to defer NATO enlargement, the White House supports the sale of the Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-16s. Israel’s battle against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas this week signaled the possibility of yet another rift in American-Turkish relations.

Erdogan, who has traditionally backed a two-state solution and the rights of Palestinians, said that a U.S. aircraft carrier that had just entered the eastern Mediterranean was there to carry out “serious massacres” in the Gaza Strip.