The foreign affairs commission of the Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s application to join NATO on Tuesday, a major advance toward enlarging the Western bloc.
The commission voted in favor of the bid following approximately four hours of discussion, which also encompassed discussions on unrelated subjects. A vote on the bid was deferred subsequent to an earlier discussion on November 16.
Voting in the general assembly of parliament, where Erdogan’s party also holds a majority, is the next step. Furthermore, it is expected that the vote there, which could occur within weeks, will be favorable. Following that, Erdogan would affix his signature to ratify the legislation.
“Although the decision to present it to the general assembly has been reached at this moment, this does not necessarily imply that it will be approved with the same swiftness by the assembly. That is not the case,” stated Commission head Fuat Oktay. Parliament has scheduled a two-week recess in early January.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom issued the following statement in response to the commission’s approval: “Sweden welcomes the move and looks forward to joining NATO.”
In May last year, Erdogan opposed Swedish and Finnish requests to join the alliance over their defense trade embargoes and protection of terrorists.
Turkey ratified Finland’s bid in April, but Sweden had to wait until it took more steps to crack down on local Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) members, which the EU and US also consider terrorists.
