A view of lawmakers during a session at Turkeys parliament as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech at the opening of the third legislative session of the Turkish parliaments 27th term on October 1, 2019 at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) in Ankara. (Screenshot from AFP video)
Turkish parliamentarians have opened the debate over Swedens NATO membership after a one-year delay.
The lawmakers on Tuesday opened the debate on Swedens membership of NATO after more than a year of delays frayed their diplomatic relations.
All the MPs were expected to approve Swedens membership of NATO after the Nordic nation gained the public backing of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in July after Stockholm clamped down on Kurdish groups regarded by Ankara as terrorist outfits.
"We see that there is a change in policy in Sweden. We see some decisions taken in courts, albeit few," Fuat Oktay, a senior MP from Erdogans ruling AKP party and head of the parliaments foreign affairs committee said in a televised interview last month.
Turkey lawmakers ratification of the bill would leave Hungary as the last holdout in an accession process that pro-Western leaders in Sweden and Finland began in reaction to Russian troops special military operation in Ukraine.
Hungary is expected to follow Turkeys lead and approve Swedens NATO membership without much resistance.
Sweden says, "at this point" they have "no reason" to negotiate with Hungary about Stockholms NATO membership.
LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/29777
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