World
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking at a cabinet meeting in the Turkish capital of Ankara on January 23, 2023. Photo: AA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Sweden Monday that it should not expect Turkey’s support for its ascension into the NATO alliance after a flare-up of tensions over the burning of the Quran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
“Those who caused such a disgrace in front of our embassy should not expect any benevolence from us regarding their NATO membership applications,” Erdogan said following a cabinet meeting in Ankara.
Erdogan’s remarks follow the Saturday burning of a copy of the Quran outside Ankara’s embassy in Stockholm by Rasmus Paludan, a far-right Swedish-Danish activist and politician, which also prompted Turkey to cancel a rare visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson the next week in Ankara.
Sweden and Finland submitted their applications to join NATO in May and voted to break their tradition of military non-alignment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, their bids have been hindered by Turkey, who accuses the Nordic countries of harboring and supporting groups - including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - that Ankara considers “terrorists.”
The PKK is a Kurdish armed group struggling for the increased political and cultural rights of Kurds in Turkey.
"If you do not show respect to the religious beliefs of the Republic of Turkey or Muslims, you will not receive any support for NATO from us," Erdogan added.
Swedish leaders have condemned Paludan’s actions but have not backed down on their country’s lax laws on free speech.
As part of its demands, Turkey is seeking the extradition of PKK members in Sweden, with Erdogan recently claiming that there were as many as 130 there.
In December, Stockholm extradited a Kurdish refugee, Mahmut Tat, to Turkey for his alleged links to the PKK.
A Swedish court in late December blocked the extradition of a Turkish journalist, Bulent Kenes, to Turkey despite being previously named by Erdogan as one of the people wanted.
Finland, however, has expressed solidarity with Sweden, saying that Helsinki will not join the military alliance without Stockholm.
“We submitted the NATO membership application together, we will also complete the process together,” Finish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said.
Turkey, Sweden, and Finland signed a trilateral memorandum in Madrid in June, under which the Nordic countries would “address” Turkey’s extradition requests and establish a legal framework for facilitating the process once Turkey has provided evidence of their “terror” background.
“Those who caused such a disgrace in front of our embassy should not expect any benevolence from us regarding their NATO membership applications,” Erdogan said following a cabinet meeting in Ankara.
Erdogan’s remarks follow the Saturday burning of a copy of the Quran outside Ankara’s embassy in Stockholm by Rasmus Paludan, a far-right Swedish-Danish activist and politician, which also prompted Turkey to cancel a rare visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson the next week in Ankara.
Sweden and Finland submitted their applications to join NATO in May and voted to break their tradition of military non-alignment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, their bids have been hindered by Turkey, who accuses the Nordic countries of harboring and supporting groups - including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) - that Ankara considers “terrorists.”
The PKK is a Kurdish armed group struggling for the increased political and cultural rights of Kurds in Turkey.
"If you do not show respect to the religious beliefs of the Republic of Turkey or Muslims, you will not receive any support for NATO from us," Erdogan added.
Swedish leaders have condemned Paludan’s actions but have not backed down on their country’s lax laws on free speech.
As part of its demands, Turkey is seeking the extradition of PKK members in Sweden, with Erdogan recently claiming that there were as many as 130 there.
In December, Stockholm extradited a Kurdish refugee, Mahmut Tat, to Turkey for his alleged links to the PKK.
A Swedish court in late December blocked the extradition of a Turkish journalist, Bulent Kenes, to Turkey despite being previously named by Erdogan as one of the people wanted.
Finland, however, has expressed solidarity with Sweden, saying that Helsinki will not join the military alliance without Stockholm.
“We submitted the NATO membership application together, we will also complete the process together,” Finish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said.
Turkey, Sweden, and Finland signed a trilateral memorandum in Madrid in June, under which the Nordic countries would “address” Turkey’s extradition requests and establish a legal framework for facilitating the process once Turkey has provided evidence of their “terror” background.
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