NATO chief presses Turkey to advance Sweden’s membership application.
Associated PressBRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday pressed Turkey to quickly ratify Sweden’s membership in the military organization, three months after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would help hasten the process in the Turkish parliament. At a NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital in July, Erdogan relented and said he would transmit Sweden’s accession protocol to the Turkish parliament for ratification, the final step for Turkey to endorse its candidature. Stoltenberg said he welcomed a commitment Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler made during Thursday’s meeting which “made it clear that Turkey would stand by the agreement.” But it remains unclear when Ankara will do so. “It demonstrates that NATO, Sweden, we have delivered on the agreement from Vilnius, and now we should It had been hoped that the long-awaited ratification would come soon after Oct. 1, when Turkey’s parliament resumed work following a summer recess.