Good Party

The Turkish Parliament's foreign affairs committee on Tuesday gave the green light for Sweden's NATO membership.

Following the approval at the committee on Dec. 26, the protocol will now be submitted to the general assembly for a vote. Simple majority of the 600 lawmakers will suffice for the ratification of the bid.

Members of Turkey's parliament meet at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, TBMM, in Ankara, 2 January 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE/STR

The 600-seat parliament will have 16 political parties thanks to the political alliance system that was introduced by the executive presidential system in 2018.

The six-party Nation Alliance has met to discuss the strategy they will follow for the second round of the presidential polls in which Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu is running as their joint candidate.

Main opposition Republican People's Party CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairperson Canan Kaftancioglu (C) speaks to her supporters in Istanbul, 6 September, 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/SERPIL GEDIK

Looming presidential and parliamentary polls will mark a new rise for Türkiye, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, promising to revive 11 provinces that have been destroyed by the earthquakes.

Meral Aksener (C), the leader of the opposition 'Good Party' (IYI) speaks at a press conference after election results in Ankara, Turkey, 26 June 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE/STR

"One-and-a-half months left to the elections, and our party building has been riddled with bullets from first to third floors following Recep's third threat," Aksener told a press conference after the attack.

Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop has suggested that there is no legal obstacle in front of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's presidential candidacy after three oppositional parties appealed to the election watchdog for the annulment of Erdoğan's bid on the grounds he has already been elected twice for the post.

Turkish main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader and Presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu (2-L) greets his supporters with his wife Selvi (R), Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu (2-R) and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavas (L) after the six opposition parties alliance chose and announced him as presidential candidate for the upcoming elections, in Ankara, Turkey 06 March 2023.

Left to right, Mansur Yavas, Ekrem Imamoglu, Meral Aksener and Kemal Kilicdaroglu. Photo/Illustration: BIRN

However, in a sign of continued divisions, it has been revealed that Meral Aksener, leader of the Good Party, the second biggest in the alliance, opposed the candidacy of Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People's Party, CHP.

A parliamentary panel has begun deliberations over the headscarf bill amid ongoing disagreements between the government and the opposition parties.

The Turkish parliament's Constitutional Commission completed the first round of the talks late Jan. 19 with the plan to continue deliberations on Jan. 24.