Istanbul: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has strengthened his stance on Sweden joining NATO. Erdogan made it clear that Sweden should no longer expect Turkey’s support for NATO membership. Turkey has announced that it must agree to certain measures to support Sweden becoming part of NATO. A copy of the Qur’an was burned in a protest in Stockholm against this, and the reason for Turkey’s toughening of its position.
“Those who allow such blasphemy in front of our embassy in Stockholm can no longer expect support for their NATO membership,” Erdogan said on Monday. However, Sweden reacted cautiously to Erdogan’s remarks. Cannot respond immediately. First, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström told Sweden’s TT news agency that he wanted to understand exactly what was said.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland ended years of neutrality and applied for NATO membership. Membership requires the approval of all 30 members of the alliance. However, NATO members Turkey and Hungary objected. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said that his parliament will approve the two countries’ membership next month.
Meanwhile, Turkey has opposed the membership of both countries, accusing Sweden and Finland of supporting Kurdish groups. Turkey has taken the position that recognition will only be granted if individuals suspected of links to terrorism are extradited.
This led to anti-Turkish protests in Sweden. Following this, Danish far-right leader Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Sweden. The countries of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan and Kuwait have come forward to condemn the incident.
