Turkish Parliamentary Committee Discusses Sweden's NATO Membership

The official agenda of the Turkish Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee indicates that the committee will discuss on Thursday a bill to approve Sweden's accession to NATO. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent the bill to Parliament for ratification three weeks ago, a move welcomed by NATO and Stockholm. Initially, Turkey raised objections due to what it described as Sweden harboring groups that Ankara considers terrorist. The Foreign Affairs Committee must approve the bill before it can be put to a vote in the full Parliament. Afterward, Erdoğan will sign it to become law. Although Erdoğan has indicated that Ankara expects more from Sweden regarding combating Kurdish militants, he stated this month that he will try to facilitate the ratification process as much as possible. NATO foreign ministers will meet in Brussels on November 28 and 29. Sweden and Finland, which have long maintained a neutral stance, applied for NATO membership last year to enhance their security following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finland's accession agreement was sealed in April, but Turkey and Hungary delayed Sweden's application. Sweden Welcomes Sweden welcomed today, Tuesday, the Turkish Foreign Affairs Committee's decision to begin discussions on Thursday regarding the bill for Stockholm's NATO membership approval. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström stated in a text message to Reuters: "This is welcome news," expressing Sweden's eagerness to become a NATO member.