Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he will not allow Sweden to join NATO as long as Qurans continue to be burnt in Sweden. However, Erdogan has a positive attitude towards Finland’s application for NATO membership.
A few days ago a right-wing leader in Sweden set a copy of the Holy Quran on fire. This incident in Sweden created a worldwide stir. Many Muslim countries strongly condemned this incident.
Now Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that as long as the Quran continues to be burnt in Sweden, he will not allow Sweden to join NATO. However, Erdogan has a positive attitude towards Finland’s application for NATO membership.
Addressing the parliament on Wednesday, Erdogan said, ‘Sweden! We cannot say ‘yes’ to your joining NATO as long as you allow the burning and tearing of Qurans.
MOU signed between Turkey, Sweden and Finland
He said, “We have a positive outlook on Finland, but not on Sweden.” Indeed, Sweden and Finland made formal applications to join NATO in May 2022, which Turkey opposed.
cited their support for dissidents. A month later, Turkey, Sweden and Finland reached a memorandum of understanding (MOU) ahead of the NATO summit held in Madrid.
Turkey agreed to lift the veto
Under the MoU, Turkey agreed to lift its veto on NATO bids by Finland and Sweden. In return it pledged to ‘support Ankara’s fight against terrorism and to promptly and fully address pending deportation or extradition requests of terrorist suspects’. Turkey’s parliament has so far not ratified the Nordic countries’ NATO bids, saying they have not yet met Ankara’s requests.
