Türkiye has strongly slammed Sweden for allowing anti-Islam and anti-Türkiye protests near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm and has canceled Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson’s next week visit to Türkiye during which the Scandinavian country’s NATO application was planned to be discussed.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry issued two condemnations against Sweden on Jan. 21 in reaction to the burning of the Quran by an ultra-rightist Danish politician and allowing PKK-affiliated anti-Türkiye protests near the Turkish Embassy.
Sweden and Finland are seeking to join NATO and must comply with the trilateral agreement with Türkiye that obliges them to cooperate in the field of terrorism and prevent terrorist propaganda.
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the permission granted to the propaganda activity against Türkiye, carried out by the PKK affiliated groups in Stockholm city center today, right after the permitted vile attack against the Holy Quran,” read the ministry’s statement.
“This demonstration is a flagrant violation of the commitment of Sweden under the trilateral memorandum regarding the prevention of the propaganda of terrorist organizations,” it read.
Ankara urged once again that the trilateral agreement must be fully implemented by Sweden, saying, “We reiterate once again our expectation from Sweden to take concrete and effective steps beyond rhetoric, particularly in counter-terrorism, in accordance with its commitments under the Trilateral Memorandum.”
The ministry also summoned Sweden’s Ambassador to Ankara Staffan Herström to express the Turkish government’s reaction against these terror acts in Stockholm.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu reacted against Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström, who tweeted that “Islamophobic provocations are appalling. Sweden has far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish Government, or myself, support the opinions expressed.”
“Hate crime is not freedom of expression. It is not in accordance with the Swedish laws and the resolutions of the Council of Europe,” he said, slamming the Swedish government for permitting such an event.
Akar cancels Swedish counterpart’s visit
Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, for his part, told the media that he canceled Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson’s visit to Türkiye on Jan. 27.
