Hanged Erdogan doll, Koran burning
Wild argument about Sweden joining NATO
Turkey continues to refuse Sweden accession to NATO. A visit by the Swedish Ministry of Defense to Ankara has now been canceled out of irritation at various protests.
Published: 14 minutes ago
|
Updated: 13 minutes ago
1/4
Putting Sweden under pressure: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turkish government has canceled a visit to Ankara by Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson scheduled for next Friday. Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying by the state news agency Anadolu that Sweden has failed to take action against “disgusting” anti-Turkish protests on its soil.
Ankara is angry that the Swedish government has allowed a demonstration by Danish-born right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm that was planned for Saturday. He had announced that he wanted to burn a copy of the Koran, the holy book of Islam. Several pro-Kurdish and pro-Turkish demonstrations were also expected in Stockholm on Saturday.
Ankara demands extradition of “terrorists”
Sweden wants Turkey to stop blocking the country’s NATO membership. Sweden and neighboring Finland applied for membership in May 2022 following the Russian attack on Ukraine. All 30 NATO members must ratify the proposals. Turkey accuses Sweden, among other things, of supporting “terrorist organizations” and is demanding the extradition of a number of people whom Ankara considers terrorists.
Fresh strife between the two countries sparked a recent protest in central Stockholm, where activists hung a doll resembling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by its feet. They wanted to put Erdogan close to the fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, whose body had been hung upside down in Milan in 1945. As a result, Turkey canceled a visit by the Swedish Parliament President Andreas Norlén to Ankara.
Jonson plays down the cancellation of his visit. “Yesterday I met my Turkish colleague Hulusi Akar at the US military airfield in Ramstein, Germany,” he tweeted on Saturday. “We have decided to postpone the planned meeting in Ankara to a later date.” (SDA/noo)