Turkey's Erdogan endorses Finland's NATO bid, but Sweden must wait


Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan and Finland's President Sauli Niinisto shake hands during their meeting in Ankara, Turkey March 17, 2023. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

ANKARA (Reuters) -President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday Turkey's parliament will start ratifying Finland's accession to NATO, lifting the biggest remaining hurdle to enlarging the Western defence alliance as war rages in Ukraine, though he held off approving Sweden's bid.

Speaking in Ankara alongside Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto, Erdogan said Helsinki had won Turkey's blessing after taking concrete steps to keep its promises to crack down on what Ankara sees as terrorists and to free up defence exports.

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