Erdogan tells Sweden not to expect Nato bid support

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Sweden should not expect Türkiye to back its Nato membership bid, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday.

Rasmus Paludan, a citizen of both Sweden and Denmark and the leader of a right-wing political party in Denmark, was permitted to hold a demonstration on Saturday (January 21) in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm and burned a copy of Qur'an.

Erdoğan spoke in a press conference following a cabinet meeting yesterday. Here he mentioned the "events that started with the NATO bid of Sweden and ended with one wretched burning a copy of our holy book Qur'an," which he had to "approach sensitively" he said.

"The limit of the rights and freedoms of individuals that is the backbone of democracy lies where the rights and freedoms of other people start. Thus no individual has the right to degrade or harass the holies of either Muslims or members of other religions or beliefs; even less to take such action," Erdoğan said.

"Both a religious and national problem"

Erdoğan also said, "the fact that the dishonorable attack was realized in front of the embassy of Türkiye turned the issue into both a religious and national problem."

Sweden protected "this betrayal, this insult, this dishonorable act, this meanness, this corruption using public force", Erdoğan said and added, "It is clear that those who caused such a disgrace in front of our country's embassy can no longer expect any benevolence from us regarding their application."

Erdoğan also said, "If they like members of terrorist organizations and Islamofobics so much, we suggest them to leave the defense of their country to them also."

Responding to Erdogan's remarks, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said that he wanted to understand exactly what the Turkish leader said before commenting.

"Sweden will respect the agreement that exists between Sweden, Finland, and Türkiye regarding our Nato membership," he added.

Rasmus Paludan 

Rasmus Paludan burned Qur'an three times last year at different locations in Sweeden, sparking reactions, reported Euronews.

Accordingly, Paludan, the leader of Stram Kurs (Tight Course) Party in Denmark, burned Qur'an in front of the Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque, or Stockholm Mosque in front of the Uppsala Mosque in Kvarngrdet and in front of a mosque in Jönköping.

Paludan went to France on November 11, 2020, and wanted to burn Qur'an in a demonstration but was deported by the police. Belgium also banned the entry of the politician into the country on the same grounds in 2020, reports Euronews.

Rasmus Paludan who founded his party in 2017 is a highly controversial politician in Denmark due to his views on refugees.

Another action by Rasmus Paludan in Copenhagen, the Danish capital where he threw up Qur'an in the air, caused acts of violence, and 23 people were detained.

Stram Kurs Party of Paludan entered the elections two years ago in Denmark arguing that Islam should be banned in Denmark and that all Muslims should be deported. The party could not get more than 2 percent of the votes, which is an election threshold in the country, and therefore could not have any deputies in the parliament.

What happened?

Turkey has blocked Sweden's NATO bid since May in an attempt to get Stockholm to fulfill several political demands, such as deporting critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and people it claims are "terrorists".

Critics have warned against meeting these demands, saying they undermine rights and freedoms in Sweden, and the country's sovereignty.

On January 11, a group held a demonstration in Stockholm, protesting Türkiye's requests from Sweden to extradite and deport "terror" suspects where an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was hung by the feet.

Prosecutors in Ankara opened an investigation into the group's protest. 

On January 21, Rasmus Paludan, the leader of a far-left political party in Danmark and a citizen of Sweden and Danmark burned a copy of Qur'an in a protest in front of the Embassy of Türkiye in Stockholm.

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin condemned the demo, calling it a "hate crime".

"To allow this action despite all our warnings is to encourage hate crimes and Islamophobia," he tweeted. "The attack on sacred values ​​is not freedom but modern barbarism."

The Swedish government also criticized the protest.

"Sweden has a far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish government, or myself, support the opinions expressed," Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Saturday.

Again on Saturday, Defence Minister of Türkiye Hulusi Akar announced that he canceled a visit from his counterpart in Sweden, 

Akar said the talks with his Swedish counterpart Pål Jonson were called off as they had "lost significance and meaning".

Sweden's Minister of Defence wrote in a tweet later that the trip had been "postponed", a decision he said was made with his Turkish counterpart on Friday during a meeting on Ukraine in Germany.

Ankara summoned the Swedish ambassador over the protests two times during this period. (AEK/PE)