Turkey has told Sweden it expects to ratify its accession to the NATO military alliance within weeks, Sweden's foreign minister said on Wednesday, offering a potential timeframe for expanding the Western bloc after 18 months of delays.

Turkey has told Sweden it expects to ratify its accession to the NATO military alliance within weeks, Sweden's foreign minister has said

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Thursday opened debate on Sweden’s request to join NATO. The legislature decided to table discussions on the subject for the next week.

Turkey has told Sweden it expects to ratify its long-delayed accession to the NATO military alliance within weeks, Sweden's foreign minister said on Wednesday. Sweden and Finland asked to join NATO last year after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Turkish Parliament’s foreign affairs committee has opened a debate on Sweden's bid to join NATO but adjourned proceedings without a decision.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Wednesday that Turkey informed him that it would ratify his country's admittance to NATO in "weeks."

By Humeyra Pamuk BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told NATO counterparts on Tuesday he was working hard on Sweden's NATO ratification which is currently being debated by the Turkish parliament and provided a likely timeline of before year-end for the Nordic country to formally join the alliance,

Tobias Billström, Sweden’s foreign minister, says it is ‘high time to get this ratification done by Turkey and Hungary’

Turkey has informed NATO that ratification of Sweden's membership bid will not be completed in time to allow the country's accession ceremony at a meeting of alliance foreign ministers next week, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.