Erdogan aide says time running out to ratify Sweden, Finland NATO bids

Turkey is running out of time to ratify NATO membership bids by Sweden and Finland before it holds elections expected in May, a Turkish presidential spokesman said on Saturday.

President Tayyip Erdogan's spokesman, Ibrahim Kalin, said Turkish ratification of the countries' bids depended on how quickly Stockholm fulfils counter-terrorism promises made as part of a deal with Ankara, warning that could take months.

"Stockholm is fully committed to implementing the agreement that was signed last year in Madrid, but the country needs six more months to write new laws that would allow the judicial system to implement the new definitions of terrorism," Kalin told a news conference in Istanbul.

Along with Finland, Sweden signed an agreement with Turkey last year aimed at overcoming Ankara's objections to their NATO bids, which were made in May last year and require the...