STORY: Turkish parliament to discuss Sweden's NATO bid next week
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 22, 2023/File
DATELINE: Dec. 23, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:14
LOCATION: Ankara
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Turkish parliament (courtesy of ihlas news agency)
2. various of the headquarters of NATO
3. various of a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Türkiye (file)
4. various of a meeting among Türkiye, Sweden, Finland and NATO in Türkiye (file)

STORYLINE:

Turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee said on Friday that it would discuss Sweden's NATO bid next week.
   
The committee said in a statement that the review of the bid is scheduled for Dec. 26.
   
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed Sweden's NATO accession protocol and submitted it to the parliament in October.
   
For ratification, the bill needs to be approved by the commission before being put to a full parliament vote.
   
After Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden and Finland submitted applications to join NATO in May.
   
Türkiye approved Finland's membership to NATO in March but has slow-walked Sweden's accession, demanding the Nordic country to further address Ankara's security concerns.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ankara.
(XHTV)