Turkey's NATO defense strategy delays Sweden's membership decision.

Turkey is demanding that critical waterways connecting the Black Sea to the Aegean be referred to as the “Turkish Straits” rather than the "Straits" in NATO's defense strategy, which could have legal implications that would give Turkey greater control over the bodies of water than it currently enjoys under the Montreux Convention. Turkey is also pressuring Sweden to crack down on alleged Kurdish terrorist sympathizers as a precondition for ratifying the Nordic country’s addition to the alliance. Turkey's objections are threatening to hold up NATO's new defense strategy, which outlines how the alliance would respond to a Russian attack.