Erdogan signs protocol on Sweden's NATO bid

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed Sweden's NATO accession protocol and has submitted it to Türkiye's parliament for ratification, reported Xinhua, quoting the president's office on Monday.

The protocol will initially be discussed at the committee of the parliament and then will be submitted to the general assembly for a vote.

Ankara had previously stated that it would not approve the memberships of Finland and Sweden to NATO unless the two countries took necessary steps regarding terrorism and extradited the requested individuals.

The Quran burning incidents in Sweden were met with a strong reaction from Türkiye.

The Turkish parliament ratified Finland's NATO bid in March but was reluctant about a similar bid for Sweden because of its alleged support for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Sweden made new amendments to its anti-terrorism law in the process of NATO membership, but the Nordic country has not yet extradited "terrorist suspects" requested by Türkiye.