The Turkish parliament has opened a debate on Sweden's bid to join NATO.
Turkey is closer to giving the green light to NATO expansion despite anger over Israel's war with Hamas.
Discussions in the parliament's foreign affairs committee represent an important moment for both European security and Turkey's relations with the West.
Sweden and Finland have abandoned decades of military non-alignment and sought the nuclear protection provided by the US-led organisation in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year.
Their applications won swift approval from all other NATO members except Turkey and Hungary.
Ankara and Budapest eventually relented and accepted Finland into the bloc this year.
The move doubled the length of NATO's border with Russia and strengthened the security of the three smaller Baltic states that joined the bloc after the Soviet Union collapsed.
But Turkey has vented its anger against Sweden - a liberal Scandinavian nation that has opened its doors to migrants in recent decades - over the country's refusal to deal with Kurdish groups Ankara has long considered terrorists.
Hungary is following Turkey's lead in the 18-month saga. /BGNES
