Turkish Parl committee to debate Sweden’s NATO membership bid

Ankara: The Turkish Parliament’s foreign affairs committee was scheduled on Thursday to start debating Sweden’s bid to join NATO, drawing the previously non-aligned country closer to membership in the Western military alliance.

Once green-lighted by the committee, Sweden’s accession protocol will need to be ratified by Parliament’s general assembly for the last stage of the legislative process in Turkey.

Turkey has stalled ratifying Sweden’s membership in NATO, accusing the country of being too lenient toward groups that

Ankara regards as threats to its security, including Kurdish militants and members of a network that Ankara blames for a failed coup.

Turkey has also been angered by a series of demonstrations by supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in Sweden as well as Quran-burning protests that roiled Muslim countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lifted his objection to Sweden’s bid during a NATO summit in July and sent the accession protocol to Parliament for ratification last month.

Turkey’s reversal of its position came after Stockholm pledged deeper cooperation with Turkey on counterterrorism and to support Turkey’s ambition to revive its EU membership bid.