Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has firmly stated that his country will not allow Sweden to join NATO as long as protests continue to desecrate Islam’s holy book. Erdogan’s statement came after a series of demonstrations in Stockholm by activists who burned the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy and hung an effigy of the President. Swedish and Finnish membership in the Western military alliance has been delayed by Turkey. It has indefinitely postponed a critical meeting in Brussels that would have discussed their entry into NATO.
Erdogan spoke to his ruling party’s legislators and said, “Sweden, don’t even bother! As long as you allow my holy book, the Quran, to be burned and torn, and you do so together with your security forces, we will not say ‘yes’ to your entry into NATO.” Meanwhile, the Swedish government has distanced itself from the protests and stressed that they are protected by freedom of speech.
Activists who staged the protests have also been branded as “useful idiots” for foreign powers who wish to harm the country by the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Kristersson told reporters in Stockholm, “We have seen how foreign actors, even state actors, have used these manifestations to inflame the situation in a way that is directly harmful to Swedish security.” The Swedish government has not named any specific countries.
Sweden and Finland abandoned their decades of nonalignment and applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine. With the exception of Turkey and Hungary, all NATO members have ratified their accession, but unanimity is required.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Turkey has fewer issues with Finland joining as a NATO member than with Sweden. As he spoke at a joint news conference in Tallinn with his Estonian colleague, Cavusoglu stressed that the decision to accept one country or both of the Nordic neighbors is up to the military alliance. He also stated that if NATO decides to handle the membership processes of the Nordic countries individually, “Turkey will then of course reconsider (ratifying) Finland’s membership separately and more favorably, I can say.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also expressed a “positive” view on Finland’s NATO membership but not on Sweden’s. Meanwhile, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said that Sweden complies with an agreement reached with Turkey and Finland last year, but religion is not part of the agreement. According to Billström, what is needed now is for the situation to cease to be heated on all sides, and that talks with Turkey are ongoing about implementing the agreement. He also tied Erdogan’s comments to an upcoming presidential election in Turkey. He said, “Right now there is an election campaign going on in Turkey and in election campaigns many things are said.”
