Turkey has announced that the country's parliament will not support the protocol on Sweden's membership in NATO. However, Turkey is ready to change its mind on one condition.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara would be ready to discuss the issue again if Sweden “fulfills its obligations.”
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“The Foreign Minister of the Swedish government came to visit us. He heard how all the parties still say that without fulfilling the obligations, the ratification of the protocol is impossible,” Cavusoglu said.
He accused Sweden of continuing to to act are representatives of the PKK and the Syrian Kurdistan National Army, which Turkey considers terrorist organizations.
Members of such terrorist structures are actively operating in Sweden. Terrorist benefits are engaged in propaganda and fundraising, that is, in fact, the financing of terrorism. We are aware of the security priorities of Sweden and Finland, and we expect the same approach from the two Scandinavian countries,” Cavusoglu said.
At the same time, he expressed his readiness to support the protocol on Finnish membership in NATO separately.
“If NATO revises its position and advocates considering issues separately, then I can say that Ankara is more positive about Helsinki joining the NATO bloc. Finland has laws similar to Sweden, however, unlike Stockholm, they do not sanction actions with burning” to the Quran. Hostility to Christianity and Islam is equally criminal. This is a crime against humanity,” the minister said.
What preceded this
- In Stockholm, under the Turkish embassy, a Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan burned the Koran – the holy book for Muslims. After that, Turkey emphasized that they would not support Sweden's entry into NATO. In the end, the process of joining the Alliance for this state was really temporarily suspended.
- Finland sees Russian trace in this provocation, said Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, hinting that Russia may be involved, because the disruption of North Atlantic integration is beneficial to the Kremlin
- And earlier in Sweden, the Kurdish organization a scarecrow that symbolized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
