Turkish commission to meet next week to discuss Swedish NATO bid

The Turkish parliament's foreign affairs commission will sit down again on Tuesday to consider Sweden's NATO membership bid, the parliament's website showed on Friday, a first step necessary for ratification.

Sweden and Finland asked to join NATO last year after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But NATO member Turkey raised objections over what it said was the two countries' protection of groups that Ankara deems terrorists.

Turkey endorsed Finland's membership bid in April but, along with Hungary, it has kept Sweden waiting.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan submitted the bill for ratification of Sweden's NATO membership bid to parliament in October and parliament's foreign affairs commission started to debate it on November 16, but postponed further discussion.

For ratification, the bill needs to be approved by the foreign affairs commission before being...