The Turkish president, the conservative Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan, yesterday signed the ratification protocol of Sweden’s entry into NATO and sent it to the Parliament for a vote, as reported by the communication office of the Presidency of Turkey, in Ankara.

Erdogan had indicated in recent weeks that – after months of blocking – he would finally give the go-ahead to the Nordic country’s access “if the US fulfills its promises”, although he always clarified that the final decision will be taken in Parliament, where his party, the AKP, has a majority along with its ally, the ultra-nationalist MHP.

The opposition, such as the social democratic CHP party and the left-wing pro-Kurdish HDP, support the Swedish bid, but the vote of the AKP-MHP bloc is still not certain, with Erdogan himself suggesting last month that the decision would depend on certain Washington concessions.

“I hope that if they (US) stay true to their word, our Parliament will also stay true to theirs. We will act accordingly,” Erdogan said in September.

He did not specify at the time what those promises were, although he hinted that the sale of F-16 fighters to Turkey, blocked by the US Congress, was a major factor in the relationship.

Turkey and Hungary are the last NATO members yet to ratify Sweden’s entry, which must be approved by all members of the Atlantic alliance before it becomes effective.

For a year, Ankara has been negotiating political concessions with Sweden in exchange for ratification.

The Turkish president insists that Sweden must limit public expressions of support for Kurdish guerrillas, extradite people wanted in Turkey and, most recently, put a stop to Koran burnings.

Among the US “promises” alleged by Erdogan could be some of the requests made to Washington by the Turkish leader, including the sale of several dozen F-16 fighter jets blocked for years by Congress USA; as well as the White House’s support for Turkey’s confrontation with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Ankara considers a terrorist organization and whose activists have the protection of the Swedish Government.

In addition, Erdogan hopes that President Joe Biden will support Turkey’s aspirations to join the European Union.