The Turkish parliament's foreign affairs commission approved Sweden's NATO membership bid on Tuesday.
Sweden and Finland asked to join NATO last year in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine © Mena Today
The Turkish parliament's foreign affairs commission approved Sweden's NATO membership bid on Tuesday, in a key step toward enlarging the Western bloc after 19 months of delays in which Ankara demanded terror-related concessions from Stockholm.
The next step is a full parliament vote that is also expected to pass, likely to be held within weeks. Erdogan would then sign it into law, concluding a process that frustrated some of Ankara's allies and tested its Western ties.
Sweden and Finland asked to join NATO last year in the face of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While Ankara ratified Finland, it has raised objections to Sweden's bid over what it said was Stockholm's protection of groups that Ankara deems terrorists.
While NATO member Hungary has also not ratified Sweden's membership, Turkey is seen as the main roadblock to adding the Scandinavian nation to the military alliance and bolstering its defences in the Baltic Sea region.
Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever,; Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Tuvan Gumrukcu
Ousted Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Thursday he would accept no other government position besides his former job, escalating a political crisis that has gripped Ukraine at a pivotal point in the war with Russia.
Moldova's parliament approved a new government led by Prime Minister Vasile Tofan on Tuesday, after he laid out his cabinet's programme, pledging to revive the economy while keeping the country on its European course.
Ozgur Ozel, ousted as leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), said on Tuesday he was formally resigning from his party to launch a new one, the latest twist in an unprecedented crackdown on President Tayyip Erdogan's opponents.
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