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The Turkish parliament has ratified Sweden's request to join NATO. Of the 346 members of parliament who voted, 287 were in favor of Sweden's admission, 55 against and 4 others abstained.
The vote was the second step in Turkey's ratification process after parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee approved the request last month. Now it is expected that President Erdogan will sign the protocol into law.
For several months, Turkey has kept Sweden's NATO membership process on hold, but with Tuesday's decision, Hungary remains the only member country of the alliance that must vote in favor of the Nordic country.
However, on Tuesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban said he had invited his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, to visit his country to negotiate the terms of Sweden's admission to the alliance.
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined in April 2023, but Sweden has faced numerous delays on the path to membership.
Erdogan initially opposed Sweden's bid for membership, accusing Swedish officials of being too soft on military groups, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Since the application, Sweden has strengthened its anti-terrorism legislation and agreed to work more closely with Turkey on security concerns.
Sweden applied to join NATO in 2022 after Russia attacked Ukraine. But Turkey and Hungary raised many obstacles in her way,
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