Turkish parliament may debate Sweden's NATO bid in coming weeks -ruling party official

The Turkish parliament's general assembly may debate Sweden's NATO membership bid in the coming weeks, the ruling AK Party's parliamentary group chairman said on Wednesday.

The Turkish parliament's general assembly may debate Sweden's NATO membership bid in the coming weeks, the ruling AK Party's parliamentary group chairman said on Wednesday. Abdullah Guler told reporters in parliament that when the general assmebly - in recess until Jan. 16 - reopens, it would hold talks on other matter and could put the Swedish bid on its agenda in "the coming weeks", without specify when exactly.

The parliament's foreign affairs commission approved the bid last month in the first step of the ratification process. A full parliamentary approval is also needed before the protocol can be signed into law by President Tayyip Erdogan.