DOMINANT ANGLE
Ankara is linking the Swedish vote to its own accession vote: the Turkish Parliament had approved Sweden's entry into NATO with the votes of the AKP, MHP, and CHP, and is gauging whether the unprecedented withdrawal of the Sweden Democrats changes the situation for the Alliance.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
According to Bianet, pre-election polls gave the left-wing bloc 50.8% of the vote against 47.6% for the ruling bloc, in an election described as "başa baş" (neck and neck).
- 02
The Turkish Parliament (TBMM) had approved Sweden's accession to NATO with the joint votes of the AKP, MHP, and CHP, Bianet recalls.
- 03
According to academic Nicholas Aylott (Södertörn), cited by Anadolu, migration and criminal violence levels have significantly decreased in Sweden, shifting the campaign focus to healthcare and education.
ANALYSIS
Ankara, September 15, 2026. Two days after the Swedish election on Sunday, September 13, the Turkish press is looking back at a result that remained unclear until the end. According to the counts cited by Bianet, the opposition bloc led by Magdalena Andersson — social democrats, Greens, Left Party, and Centre Party — would have won with 176 seats out of 349, against 173 for the outgoing coalition of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, which has been backed by the Sweden Democrats since 2022. The final result remains pending the count of overseas votes, expected on Wednesday, September 16.
The Anadolu Agency notes that this election took place on different terrain than the previous two: "migration levels have clearly decreased in Sweden ... and the rate of criminal violence, which was very high four years ago, is no longer as high today," observes Nicholas Aylott, from Södertörn University, quoted by Anadolu. According to PerOla Oberg, from Uppsala University, healthcare, education, and care for the elderly dominated the campaign. The social democrats proposed increasing taxes on banks and high incomes to fund hospitals and schools, and support households affected by the rising cost of living.
For the Turkish press, the notable fact remains the unprecedented decline of the Sweden Democrats since they entered the Riksdag in 2010, who had instead hoped to move from external support to direct participation in the government. Bianet recalls an issue specific to Turkey: the Turkish Parliament (TBMM) had approved Sweden's accession to NATO with the joint votes of the AKP, MHP, and CHP — a dossier that had long opposed Ankara to Stockholm on the Kurdish issue. Turkish media also relayed, before the vote, a message addressed to the social democrats by Selahattin Demirtaş, former co-chair of the HDP imprisoned in Turkey.
The difficulty for Andersson, already identified by Bianet before the vote, remains: consolidating a majority where the Left Party demands to enter the government, while the Centre Party refuses.
