President Tayyip Erdogan has said that Turkey's Parliament will start ratifying Finland's accession to NATO.
NATO requires the unanimous approval of its 30 members to expand, so the announcement lifts a serious hurdle to enlarging the Western defence alliance as Russia's illegal war rages in Ukraine.
Speaking in Ankara alongside Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto, Erdogan declared that Helsinki had won Turkey's blessing after taking concrete steps to crack down on what Ankara sees as terrorists.
Turkey, however, continues to hold off approving Sweden's bid to join the NATO alliance.
Commenting on Turkey’s willingness to consider ratifying Sweden’s accession to Nato, President Erdogan said it would “depend on the solid steps Sweden will take.”
Responding to the announcement, the UK's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:
"We welcome Turkey’s decision to ratify Finland’s accession to NATO. We are clear that Turkey should provide a clear path for Sweden’s swift accession.
We remain fully committed to supporting both Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession, in line with NATO’s open door policy.
Their membership will make all Allies safer, and the Euro-Atlantic area more secure. We will continue to press for both countries’ swift accession into the alliance.
Our mutual security declarations signed with Sweden and Finland on 11 May 2022 demonstrate our steadfast and unequivocal commitment to the security of both countries during this process and beyond."