After holding the NATO alliance hostage for nearly two years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally agreed to allow Sweden to join the trans-Atlantic alliance. Washington and other NATO capitals were jubilant. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken “welcome[d] Turkish President Erdogan’s signature of the Articles of Ratification for Sweden’s NATO membership.” 

Erdogan’s approval was quickly rewarded by Washington greenlighting a long-anticipated F-16 sale to Ankara. In other words, Erdogan was willing to hold up NATO’s expansion and security interests until he got what he wanted: fighter jets. The Biden administration was so excited with Erdogan’s positivity that it dispatched acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland to Ankara to continue the exercise in positive reinforcement.