ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted on Sunday that Turkey could make a different decision regarding Finland and Sweden's NATO applications, saying "Sweden will be shocked when we respond differently to Finland."
The Turkish leader warned Finland not to make such a mistake.
The two Nordic countries signed an agreement with Turkey in June to join the US-led military coalition, including not supporting organizations designated by Ankara as terrorist organizations, extraditing individuals suspected of being terrorists, and A promise was made to avoid arms embargoes. any of the three. Ankara has been asked to support their NATO membership in return.
Also Read: First Palestinian American to win Illinois state seat sworn into office
Swedish-Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan burned a Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Sweden earlier this month, breaking the accord, and he has promised to do so every Friday until Stockholm is admitted to NATO.
In his remarks on Sunday, Erdogan addressed the provocative act, asking, "Did [Sweden] erase Islam by burning our Koran? They just demonstrated their ignorant nature. Denmark followed suit."
On Friday, Paludan destroyed more copies of the Quran, this time in Copenhagen, in front of a mosque, the Turkish embassy and the Russian consulate.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christerson criticized the actions of the leader of the Stram Kurs hard line party as "deeply offensive", but he refrained from demanding any official sanctions against Paludan, who had organized Stockholm's free march from the police. According to the speech, permission was obtained to perform the stunt. law. The Turkish government criticized the country's tolerance, saying that the act "clearly constitutes a hate crime."
Also Read: Taliban express concern over "problems" Afghan refugees are having in Iran
Erdogan claimed in front of his audience on Sunday that Sweden had been given a list of 120 people to extradite as "terrorists" for "entering NATO", while Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu last week revealed that a scheduled meeting to discuss NATO membership with both Finland and Sweden had been postponed indefinitely.
In a statement he quickly walked back last week, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto suggested Helsinki could join the military bloc on its own if its neighbor were to be blockaded. On Saturday, the foreign ministers of both the countries confirmed that the process of their merger is still on.
Regarding the two countries' bids for membership in NATO, Russia has said that the bloc's growth will not enhance the stability or security of the continent of Europe.
Also Read: Pope condemns the Middle East's rising "death spiral"
Despite the fact that Moscow has said it has "no problems" with either Stockholm or Helsinki, it has promised to revise its military posture in its northern region if the organization receives two additional members.