© Portal/VALENTYN OGIRENKO
Turkey, which has long blocked Sweden's accession to NATO, is taking a decisive step
It was a political piece in which Turkish President Erdogan demonstrated his strength in foreign policy. Ankara blocked Sweden's entry into the Western defense alliance, NATO, for months.
Erdogan accused the previously neutral state of not taking sufficiently consistent measures against Kurdish organizations in Sweden.
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The Turkish president considers these to be terrorist groups. But now the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament approved Sweden's accession to NATO on Tuesday, thus removing an important obstacle to the expansion of the defense alliance.
The rest is a formality
Given that Erdogan himself initiated this political process, future decisions are expected to be little more than a formality. We now expect the plenary session to be approved in the coming weeks and for Erdogan to sign the corresponding law.
However, a quick decision is not expected, said committee chairman Fuat Oktay. Approval from NATO member Hungary is also still pending.