Sweden’s bid for NATO membership faces a dead end after a rally by the far right burns the Quran in front of Turkey’s embassy in Stockholm.
Sweden’s bid for NATO membership is up in the air amid strained ties with Turkey over Ankara’s demands to hand over Kurdish activists and prevent rallies attacking its leadership.
Tensions climaxed on January 21 when the leader of a Danish far-right political party burned the Quran while protesting in front of Turkey’s embassy in Stockholm.
Ahead of the rally, Ankara cancelled a visit by Sweden’s defence minister aimed at overcoming Turkey’s objections to its NATO membership and Turkey’s foreign minister called for the rally to be banned.
Sweden needs Turkey’s backing to gain entry to NATO as fears in Europe grow after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Here is a look at recent relations between Turkey and Sweden:
May 12, 2022
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that Finland must apply to join the NATO military alliance “without delay”.
May 13, 2022
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it is not possible for Ankara to support Sweden and Finland joining the transatlantic military alliance, signalling a possible hurdle to the two countries’ plans to join the organisation.
May 15, 2022
The Finnish government officially announced its intention to join NATO. Sweden’s ruling party followed shortly after.
May 16, 2022
President Erdogan confirmed Turkey’s opposition to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, shooting down a proposal by the Nordic countries to send delegations to Ankara to address the matter.
“We will not say ‘yes’ to those [countries] who apply sanctions to Turkey to join security organisation NATO,” Erdogan said at a news conference, referring to Sweden’s 2019 decision to suspend arms sales to Turkey over its military operation in neighbouring Syria.
Turkey also accused the two nations of harbouring “terror” groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), blacklisted by Ankara, the European Union and the United States.
Justice ministry sources told the state news agency Anadolu on Monday that Sweden and Finland had failed to respond positively to Turkey’s 33 extradition requests over the past five years.
May 18, 2022
Finland and Sweden officially applied to join the world’s biggest military alliance. The move requires the unanimous approval of the alliance’s 30 current members. The process was expected to take about two weeks.
June 28, 2022
Turkey lifted its veto over Finland and Sweden’s NATO bid after four hours of talks just before a NATO summit began in Madrid.
Turkey’s justice minister announced that as part of the deal, his country will seek the extradition of 33 alleged Kurdish fighters and coup plot suspects from Sweden and Finland.
Source: Aljazeera
