BREAKING: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkey would move forward with ratifying Finland’s NATO application.
The breakthrough came as Finnish President Sauli Niinisto was in Ankara to meet with Erdogan. Both Finland and Sweden applied to become NATO members 10 months ago in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, abandoning decades of nonalignment.
NATO requires the unanimous approval of its 30 existing members to expand, and Turkey and Hungary are the only countries that have not yet ratified the Nordic nation’s bids. The Turkish government accused both Sweden and Finland of being too soft on groups that it deems to be terror organizations, but expressed more reservations about Sweden.
“When it comes to fulfilling its pledges in the trilateral memorandum of understanding, we have seen that Finland has taken authentic and concrete steps,” Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara following his meeting with Niinisto.“This sensitivity for our country’s security and, based on the progress that has been made in the protocol for Finland’s accession to NATO, we have decided to initiate the ratification process in our parliament,“ the president added.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Turkey plans to ratify Finland's NATO bid ahead of May polls -sourcesTurkey's parliament will 'highly likely' ratify Finland's NATO accession bid before it closes in mid-April, two Turkish officials told Reuters on Wednesday, a day before Finnish President Sauli Niinisto visits the country.
Read more »
Erdogan hints Turkey may ratify Finland’s NATO membershipTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Wednesday that his country may soon ratify Finland’s application to join NATO, allowing for the possibility of the country joining the military alliance separately from Sweden.
Read more »
Turkey expected to back Finland for NATO membership, snub SwedenTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has played spoiler for much of the past 10 months.
Read more »
Posts share doctored image of 'South Korean president with NATO leaders'Korean-language social media posts have repeatedly shared a doctored image of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol apparently standing at the centre of a group photo of NATO heads of state at the Madrid summit in June 2022. The posts suggested NATO purposefully placed Yoon in the centre to celebrate him 'as a key global leader'. Yoon, however, has replaced NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the manipulated photo. Yoon was separately photographed at the summit with four other Indo-Pacific leaders who attended as observers.
Read more »
It’s good to see Vice President Pence criticizing President Trump | PennLive lettersIt is gratifying to see former Vice-President Mike Pence finally offering unvarnished, hard-hitting criticism of Donald Trump for his role in the riot that savaged the Capitol.
Read more »
Flood deaths in Turkey's earthquake-stricken area rise to 16Rescue teams have retrieved two more bodies after floods struck two Turkish provinces that were already devastated by last month’s powerful earthquake
Read more »