STORY: Türkiye says Sweden fulfills "significant part" of responsibilities for NATO bid
SHOOTING TIME: Jan. 12, 2024/earlier footage
DATELINE: Jan. 13, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:15
LOCATION: Ankara
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST: 
1. various of Turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee
2. various of headquarters of NATO
3. various of Turkish F-16 fighter jets
4. SOUNDBITE (Turkish): SERKAN DEMIRTAS, Ankara-based foreign policy analyst and journalist

STORYLINE:

Sweden has fulfilled an important part of demands by Türkiye for the Nordic country's NATO bid, Turkish parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus said Wednesday.

"We see that Sweden also fulfills a significant part of its responsibilities," Kurtulmus told reporters.

"If we are to act jointly within an alliance, Türkiye has extremely legitimate expectations," he said, noting that Türkiye expected relevant countries to end "any kind of support" to terrorist groups and ban what it called anti-Turkish activities on their lands.

Sweden should act carefully and meticulously against Islamophobia in Europe, he noted, adding Ankara is not against NATO's expansion.

The Turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee approved Sweden's NATO bid following deliberation in December last year, a first step necessary for putting it to a full parliament vote.

Türkiye is under pressure from the United States to approve Sweden's accession to NATO, but Ankara has been holding up its ratification to press Washington to allow the sale of F-16 fighter jets.

SOUNDBITE (Turkish): SERKAN DEMIRTAS, Ankara-based foreign policy analyst and journalist
"As Sweden has fulfilled most Turkish demands, the last remaining obstacle to this country's membership in NATO is the F-16 issue with the United States.
In the coming seven to 10 days, the steps to be taken will be significant, and the starting point will be the approval of Sweden's NATO accession."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Ankara.
(XHTV)