Turkish parliament ratifies Finland’s NATO accession

Turkish-Parliament-Finland-Nato

ANKARA: Turkey’s parliament approved a bill on Thursday to allow Finland to join NATO, clearing the way for the country to become part of the Western defence alliance as war rages in Ukraine.

The Turkish parliament was the last among the 30 members of the alliance to ratify Finland’s membership after Hungary’s legislature approved a similar bill earlier this week.

President Tayyip Erdogan said earlier in March that Finland had secured Turkey’s blessing after taking concrete steps to keep promises to crack down on groups seen by Ankara as terrorists, and to free up defence exports.

Finland and Sweden asked to join NATO last year in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the process has been held up by Turkey and Hungary. The parliaments of all NATO members must ratify newcomers.

“NATO membership will strengthen Finland’s security and improve stability and security in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe,” the Finnish government said in a statement following the Turkish parliament vote.

Turkey is still holding off approving the membership bid of Finland’s neighbour Sweden, which Ankara says has not gone far enough in cracking down on people Turkey considers terrorists. The three countries signed a pact on the issue last year.

The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs commission had unanimously approved the Finland bill last week. The Turkish legislative process was happening as it prepares for parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14.

Finland’s membership would represent the first enlargement since North Macedonia joined the alliance in 2020.

Turkey has repeatedly said that Sweden needed to take additional steps against supporters of Kurdish militants and members of the network Ankara holds responsible for a 2016 coup attempt. Turkey treats both groups as terrorist organisations.

Read more: Turkey hopeful of extension to Ukraine grain deal

Talks between Sweden and Turkey have made little progress, especially following several disputes mainly over street protests by pro-Kurdish groups in Stockholm.

The U.S. State Department said it welcomed Turkey’s ratification for Finland and encouraged it to quickly ratify Sweden’s accession as well.

“Sweden and Finland are both strong, capable partners that share NATO’s values and will strengthen the Alliance and contribute to European security,” a department spokesperson said.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, soon after the Turkish vote, said: “Finland stands with Sweden now and in the future and supports its application”.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said he had urged Turkey and Hungary to ratify both applications. A vote on Sweden’s bid has not yet been scheduled in Hungary.



from International News Today - Breaking News, US News, World News https://ift.tt/iN6o91w

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Texas shooting claims five lives, armed suspect on the loose

Image
 A man shot dead five neighbors including an 8-year-old boy after some of them had asked him to stop shooting a semiautomatic rifle in his front yard in Cleveland, Texas, because it was keeping their baby awake, police said on Saturday. Police were still looking for the suspect, who used an AR-15-style rifle in the shooting late inside the neighbors’ home on Friday, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said. Sheriffs deputies were joined by FBI agents as they continued searching for the suspect, Francisco Oropeza, 38, in a nearby wooded area 18 hours after the attack, Capers said. “We are tracking him with dogs and men on horseback and drones in the air,” Capers said. Law enforcement had found an abandoned cellphone and some discarded clothing in the search area, Capers said. He was quoted as saying by other news outlets that all the victims were shot in the head “almost execution-style.” Police said all five victims were from Honduras. Officials from Capers’ office received a
Read more

DSP, gunman martyred in Lakki Marwat attack

Image
LAKKI MARWAT: Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Gul Muhammad Khan and his gunman were martyred in an attack in Lakki Marwat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa late Friday night. According to details, DSP Gul Muhammad Khan was on routine patrol on Manjiwala Road in Lakki Marwat when some unidentified assailants opened fire on police van due to which DSP Gul Muhammad Khan and his gunman were critically wounded. They were rushed to Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital Norang where both of them died during treatment. A heavy contingent of police reached the spot after the incident and cordoned off the area. Police have also launched a search operation in the area to arrest the culprits. Read more: CTD, police kills three terrorist in Lakki Marwat Earlier, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Bannu police killed three terrorists affiliated with a banned outfit during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Ghazni Khel area of Lucky Marwat. The CTD spokesperson stated that an intelligen
Read more

Illegal immigrants involved in serious crimes in Karachi: Police chief

Image
KARACHI: Karachi police chief on Wednesday claimed that the illegal Afghan immigrants were involved in some heinous criminal activities in the metropolis, ARY News reported. During an exclusive interview with ARY News, the Karachi police chief – Khadim Hussain Rind – asserted that more than 43,000 illegal Afghan immigrants, involved in activities such as street crimes and house robberies in the city, were deported. “After the cleanup operation against illegal aliens the crime ratio in the city cut off by 4.9 percent,” he maintained. The city police chief stated that a crackdown against drug dealers was also conducted in Karachi. While responding to a question, Rind stated that a plan is being cooked regarding the security of PSL. from Latest Pakistan News and Breaking News from All over Pakistan https://ift.tt/zu8qS3r
Read more