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Protocol on Sweden’s NATO membership may be considered by Turkish parliament soon

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier on Tuesday that Sweden has fulfilled its commitments to Turkey and is now ready to join the North Atlantic Alliance

ANKARA, October 24. /TASS/. Turkey’s parliament may consider the protocol on Sweden’s membership in NATO in the near future, speaker Numan Kurtulmus said on Tuesday.

"When I am back from Prague, I will refer it to the commission on foreign affairs. I hope it will reach the Grand National Assembly (parliament - TASS) as soon as possible and the lawmakers will make their decision," the Anadolu news agency quoted him as saying.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier on Tuesday that Sweden has fulfilled its commitments to Turkey and is now ready to join the North Atlantic Alliance.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier submitted the document to Turkey’s parliament. Under Turkish law, it will be first considered by the parliamentary commission on foreign affairs and if approved, it will be put to the vote in parliament.

The protocol on Sweden’s accession to NATO has been ratified by 31 countries of the alliance, with Turkey and Hungary being the only ones not to have done so. An agreement on the soonest ratification of this document by Ankara was reached between NATO, Turkey, and Sweden ahead of the alliance’s summit in Vilnius in July but the Turkish side put forth a number of conditions, including anti-terrorist cooperation and accelerated economic and visa integration with the European Union.