Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Photo. Ludovic MARIN / AFP
Turkey will not be able to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership until at least October because parliament is on holiday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.
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“There are two months of parliamentary holidays. Of course, it will not be possible to end these holidays before October,” Erdogan told reporters in Vilnius, where he is attending a NATO summit.
“There are many international agreements, there are many legislative proposals that need to be discussed. We will consider them in order of importance. But our goal is to complete this process as soon as possible,” said the Turkish president.
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It is expected that what Erdogan said will cause disappointment and concern among Swedish and NATO officials.
Some Western leaders had hoped that Turkey would be able to complete the ratification process within the next few weeks.
It has already been reported that Erdogan, meeting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson on Monday in Vilnius before the summit, agreed to admit Sweden into the alliance and promised that Ankara would ratify it.
Turkey has resisted Sweden’s admission to the alliance for more than a year, accusing Stockholm of harboring what Ankara considers terrorists, particularly fighters from the Kurdish separatist armed group the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
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Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members that have yet to ratify Sweden’s admission, although it applied to join the alliance along with Finland last year after Russia launched a renewed invasion of Ukraine. Finland, whose admission was also opposed by Turkey, became a member of the alliance in April.
Hungary stands in solidarity with Turkey and, according to Hungarian officials, Budapest will not hesitate to ratify Sweden’s admission once Ankara has done so.
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2023-07-12 17:57:13
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