The Turkish Parliament launches the ratification procedure of Sweden's NATO accession protocol
The Turkish parliament's foreign affairs commission delayed a vote on Sweden's NATO membership bid on Thursday in a further setback to the Nordic country's hopes of joining the Western alliance after 18 months of waiting, Reuters reports.
Chairman Fuat Oktay said the commission, which is controlled by President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party, will hold further talks and may bring the bill back on its agenda next week - but he did not set a clear timeline.
"For all of our lawmakers to approve Sweden's NATO membership, they need to be fully convinced. We will discuss all of these in our (next) commission meeting (on the issue)," Oktay told reporters after hours of debate.
The commission can pass bills by a simple majority. It may invite the Swedish ambassador to brief lawmakers if needed and if parliament's regulations allow, Oktay added.
Erdogan said this month he would try to facilitate the ratification process, but added Sweden had not taken enough action on Kurdish militants.
