Türkiye slams Sweden over anti-Islam, anti-Türkiye acts
ANKARA/ISTANBUL
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.
“At this point, Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson’s visit to Türkiye on Jan. 27 has lost its significance and meaning, so we canceled the visit,” Akar said. The visit was important for Sweden, which is aspiring to join NATO.
Nation-wide protests against Sweden
Türkiye and Hungary are the only two members who have not yet ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland into NATO.
Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop, cabinet members and government officials have all lashed out at Sweden in their separate statements over the weekend. The Religious Affairs Directorate has instructed to recite the Quran in all the Turkish mosques on Jan. 22, while some religious groups in Istanbul protested Sweden in front of the Swedish Consulate in downtown Istanbul.
The opposition parties also criticized Sweden. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), described the incident in Stockholm as inhuman, saying: “We perfectly know the target and objective of this disrespectful act that hurts billion of Muslims. I curse this fascism that makes the top of hate crimes.”
Swedish PM also reacts against incident
In the meantime, the Swedish prime minister also reacted to the incident which has drawn reactions from all over the world.
“Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. Burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act. I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm today,” Ulf Kristersson said on Twitter.
