The Turkish parliament is set to debate Sweden’s NATO membership bid after months of delays that have strained Ankara’s ties with its Western allies, with a vote expected this week.
The debate in the Grand National Assembly is due to take place on Tuesday, state media reported, with a vote likely the same day. The AFP news agency reported that the vote could be held on Thursday.
Turkey’s ratification would leave Hungary as the last holdout in an accession process that Sweden and its neighbour Finland began in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.
Finland became the 31st member of the military alliance last April. Its membership roughly doubled the length of NATO’s border with Russia and substantially strengthened the defences of three small Baltic nations that joined the bloc following the Soviet Union’s collapse.
Sweden and Finland pursued a policy of military non-alignment during the Cold War era confrontation between Russia and the United States.
However, Russia’s invasion of its western neighbour set off Europe’s biggest and most brutal land battle since World War II, upturning geopolitical calculations.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s resistance to Sweden’s NATO accession reflected his more nuanced stance towards Moscow.
Ankara has profited from maintaining – and even expanding – trade with Russia while at the same time supplying Ukraine with drones and other essential arms.
Erdogan has also been one of the few NATO leaders to hold regular meetings and phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
United Arab Emirates Dirham Exchange Rate
