Turkey agrees to back Sweden’s NATO bid

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to back Sweden’s bid to join NATO after a year of blocking the move, citing Turkish security concerns.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday that Erdogan agreed to forward Sweden’s membership bid to Turkey’s parliament.

“I’m glad to announce that President Erdogan has agreed to forward the accession protocol for Sweden to the Grand National Assembly as soon as possible and work closely with the assembly to ensure ratification,” Stoltenberg said at a news conference. “This is a historic day.”

NATO membership requires the approval of all of the military alliance’s members. Turkey has held up Sweden’s NATO accession since last year, accusing Stockholm of harbouring Kurdish activists Ankara regards as “terrorists”.

(Aljazeera)