Ankara

The Turkish parliament's foreign affairs commission will debate Sweden's NATO membership on Thursday (Nov 16). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan submitted the bill to parliament for ratification three weeks ago, a step which was welcomed by Sweden and NATO. According to a report by the news agency Reuters on Tuesday, the bill must be approved by the commission before a vote by the full general assembly.

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Erdogan would then sign it into law.

Sweden and Finland had applied to join NATO last year to bolster their security after Russia launched a war against Ukraine. Finland's membership of the inter-governmental military was sealed in April this year. 

However, Sweden's bid had been held up by Turkey and Hungary. Previously, Turkey had raised objections over Sweden's alleged harbouring of individuals who Ankara said were members of terrorist groups.

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Since the Turkish parliament reopened on Oct 1, officials repeatedly said that Stockholm needed to take more concrete steps to clamp down on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia before Ankara could ratify its membership bid. 

Also read: Turkey asks Sweden to take 'concrete steps' against terrorism to garner support for NATO bid

Nearly two weeks back, the parliament's foreign affairs commission said it would not speed up ratifying NATO membership. However, Erdogan said later he would try to facilitate it. 

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Meanwhile, Ukraine announced last Thursday (Nov 9) that a global peace summit for Ukraine might now take place in February 2024 - which is the second anniversary of the Russian offensive. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky's top adviser Ihor Zhovkva told Reuters that Ukraine would arrange a fourth meeting of national security advisers in late November or early December.

"And the Global Summit might take place in February 2024," he said. 

(With inputs from agencies)