26 May 2017•Update: 26 May 2017
ANKARA
NATO’s assembly of member state parliamentarians will boost the size of Turkey’s representation by half, from 12 to 18.
Meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly standing committee voted Friday in favor of the increase, after the head of Turkey’s delegation, a deputy from the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, demanded the change in light of Turkey’s population.
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly is an inter-parliamentary organization which brings together legislators from NATO member countries to consider security-related issues of common interest and concern.
The assembly is made up of 257 delegates from the 28 NATO member countries. Each delegation is based on the country's size and reflects the political composition of the parliament. Delegates are nominated by their parliaments according to their national procedures.
Currently, the United States has 36 delegates, while France, Germany, Italy and Britain each have 18 delegates.
Reporting by Meltem Ozturk; Writing by Ayse Humeyra Atilgan
