LONDON, March 15. /TASS/. Parliament in Turkey will likely ratify Finland’s application to join NATO before the legislature closes in mid-April for elections, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing two Turkish officials.

According to them, there are plans to consider Finland’s NATO bid independently from Sweden’s.

The administration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement seen by TASS on Wednesday that his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto would arrive in Turkey on a working visit on March 16-17. The two leaders are expected to discuss Finland’s NATO accession.

In May 2022, Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership, however, their entry bid was immediately stonewalled by Ankara who demanded that the Nordic countries officially declare Kurdish organizations as terrorist entities, and extradite persons to Turkey, who are accused of terrorist activity or aiding and abetting the 2016 coup d’etat attempt.

Turkey believes that Finland in general honors its commitments under the memorandum on its membership of the North Atlantic Treaty, while Sweden, Ankara argues, is not yet ready to join NATO as it has yet to fulfil its commitments under the memorandum.