Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Turkey will not be able to certify Sweden's membership in NATO until October at the earliest, because parliament will not convene before then.
"We have a two-month parliamentary recess," Erdogan said at a news conference after the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, adding that "there are a lot of (other) legislative proposals to discuss" once lawmakers return in October.
"There are many international agreements and many legislative proposals that need to be discussed and we will consider them according to their importance, but our goal is to end this process as soon as possible," he said.
"When parliament resumes, I think its president will agree to prioritize this issue," he said.
Erdogan also revealed that Sweden will present a roadmap to Turkey that includes the steps it will take against terrorism before approving its request.
He said Sweden would support the modernization of the Turkey-EU customs union agreement, as well as allowing Turks to travel to EU countries without a visa.
Some Western leaders had hoped Turkey would be able to complete the ratification process in the coming weeks.
Turkey's president agreed on Monday to allow Sweden to join the U.S.-led military coalition after holding back its candidacy for more than a year.