On Thursday, Turkey’s parliament, the latest among 30 NATO members, ratified Finland’s membership, paving the way for the country to join a Western defense alliance. 276 Turkish deputies voted for the relevant decision.
Earlier this week, the Hungarian legislature approved a similar bill.
In March, the Turkish president said Finland had secured Turkey’s support after taking concrete steps to fulfill promises to crack down on groups Ankara considers terrorists and free up defense exports. writes Reuters.
Last year, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO. However, the process was slowed down by Türkiye and Hungary. The parliaments of all members of the alliance must ratify the newcomers. In a statement from the Finnish government, following a vote in the Turkish parliament, it says:
“NATO membership will strengthen Finland’s security and increase stability and security in the Baltic Sea and Northern European region.”
Turkey is delaying approval of Sweden’s membership bid, which Ankara believes has made no headway in its fight against people Turkey considers terrorists. Turkey has repeatedly said that Sweden needs to take additional steps against supporters of Kurdish militants and members of the network Ankara believes are responsible for the 2016 coup attempt. Türkiye views both groups as terrorist organizations.
Finland’s membership will represent the first expansion since North Macedonia joined the alliance in 2020.
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