While Finland’s flag was flown in front of NATO headquarters on Tuesday, Sweden’s flag may still be burning elsewhere in the world.
In the same week that Finland became a member of NATO, Turkey showed no signs of wanting to give Sweden the green light for NATO membership.
The Turkish Foreign Minister continues his verbal attack on Sweden.
Photo: Johanna Gerron/Reuters
Sweden must take more steps before Turkey can ratify the application, says Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.
– The Nazis began burning books, and then attacked places of religious gatherings, says the Turkish Foreign Minister Aftonbladet.
“The Scoop Kick” by Mevlut Cavusoglu alludes to the episode of Quran burning outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.
Controversial Rasmus Paludan of the Danish party Stram Kors stirred up Turkey and other Muslim countries when he set fire to a copy of the Koran.
It happened outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm on January 21.
The burning of the Qur’an led to demonstrations in many Muslim countries. The photo is from Peshawar, Pakistan, on January 24.
Photo: Mohamed Sajjad/The Associated Press
This action led to large demonstrations against Sweden in several Muslim countries.
“Haven for Kurdish terrorists”
Turkey believes that Sweden has become a haven for Kurdish terrorists, Al-Jazeera wrote.
Sweden has a long tradition of providing support to Kurds in exile, including members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a “terrorist group” in the United States, among others.
Türkiye demands the extradition of a number of Kurds whose names were received from Sweden.
On Thursday, it became known that Sweden would not extradite a man in his fifties, despite Turkey’s suspicions of his membership in a terrorist organization.
The man is a Swedish citizen and therefore will not be extradited, the government decided.
In December, the Swedish Supreme Court blocked the extradition of Turkish journalist Bulent Kines.
Turkey claims he was central to plans to overthrow the Erdogan regime in 2016.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Photo: ADEM ALTAN/AFP
On Thursday, the Swedish news agency TT wrote that Sweden would extradite a man in his 30s who was convicted of fraud in Turkey and detained in Sweden.
It came from Turkey in August last year, and the Swedish Supreme Court has now said it finds nothing in the way of extradition.
– Türkiye is making very stringent demands
Turkey made a number of demands in order to approve Sweden’s request to join NATO, including the handover of a number of people.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson believes that the country is unable to meet all the demands made by Turkey.
– Türkiye confirms that we have done what we promised. They’re asking for things we can’t or won’t give them, the Swedish prime minister said at a security conference recently. Al Jazeera.
However, Christerson believes that Turkey will agree to Sweden’s request sooner or later.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström believes that Turkey no longer has a good reason to train Sweden for NATO membership.
– The message will be that we have done our part of the agreement and that the Turkish National Assembly must start the approval process, Billström told the Swedish news agency TT.
An anti-Swedish demonstration in Lahore, Pakistan, on January 24.
Photo: KM Chaudary/AP
During his meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Billstrom stated that Sweden has put in place new legislation that, from 1 June, will make it more difficult to use Swedish territory for terrorist activities and terrorist financing.
common sense marriage
Türkiye’s ongoing training for Sweden’s NATO membership is beginning to affect members of the defense alliance.
The administration in the United States in particular should be outraged by Erdoğan’s behaviour. The Americans are also provoked by the fact that Turkey purchased advanced anti-aircraft weapons from Russia a few years ago.
The hope is that the situation with regard to Sweden will change after the elections in Turkey on May 14.
Politico He writes that the relationship between NATO and Turkey is like a marriage without love, it is based only on reason.
A clear kick to Sweden from a protester in Malaysia after the burning of the Quran in Stockholm.
Photo: Vincent Thian/AP
Both sides have made themselves dependent on each other. NATO needs Turkey, among other things, for geopolitical reasons and for the country’s efforts against ISIS and other terrorist groups in the region.
Türkiye needs NATO membership to secure its security at the intersection between West and East. The country with NATO’s second largest defense also relies on being able to buy US F-16s and other weapons.
Stoltenberg remains optimistic
NATO countries agree that Sweden should be included in the defense alliance as soon as possible, says NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
The time has come for Sweden to join as well, Stoltenberg said at a press conference on Wednesday, when foreign ministers of NATO countries concluded their two-day meeting in Brussels.
As you know, Turkey and Hungary are the only two NATO countries that have not yet wanted to ratify Sweden’s membership.
Sweden applied to join NATO along with Finland, but now it stands on its own again.
The country is expected to follow suit before long, perhaps before summer.
The Finnish flag will be flown outside the headquarters in Brussels this week. Sweden must wait for Turkish approval.
Photo: John Theiss/AFP
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