On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara would not approve Sweden's bid to join the North Atlantic Alliance. Speaking in parliament at a meeting of the ruling AK Party led by him, the Turkish leader also said that the issue of Finland's admission to NATO could be resolved positively.
"Sweden should not waste time. As long as you allow our holy book, the Quran, to be burnt and torn up, and your law enforcement officers do nothing about it, we will not say 'yes' to your joining NATO. At the same time, we have a positive attitude towards Finland in this matter," Erdogan said.
Turkey's relations with Sweden escalated after the Quran burning action outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on January 21. Ankara said it would not approve the kingdom's bid to join NATO until it fulfills its obligations under the counterterrorism memorandum it signed with Turkey.
Finland and Sweden applied to join the North Atlantic Alliance in May 2022, but the accession process was blocked by Turkey, requiring them to declare Kurdish organizations terrorist and to extradite people accused of terrorism or participating in the 2016 coup attempt. On June 28, Erdogan, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, then-Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg held talks in Madrid prior to the NATO summit. A memorandum was signed allowing both countries to join NATO.
Ankara has previously stated that the memorandum signed with Helsinki and Stockholm is not final and the Turkish parliament may not approve it if the two states do not fulfill their obligations to counter the terrorist organizations enshrined in it.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Official website of NATO
Based on materials from TASS