At the rate things are going in Stockholm, Ankara will never ratify Sweden’s application to join NATO, a top official from Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has declared.
"This incident has once again shown that Sweden has not given up on supporting terrorism," AK Party Deputy Chairperson Numan Kurtulmuş told reporters in Türkiye’s northern province Samsun on Sunday.
Kurtulmuş was referring to the incident in the Swedish capital a day prior where a Danish anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan burned a copy of Islam’s holy book in front of the Turkish Embassy and delivered a hatred-filled speech with permission from Swedish authorities and under police protection.
Paludan’s hateful act spurred backlash not only in Türkiye, where protests continue countrywide but also around the world, with countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan and many others "strongly condemning and rejecting" the extremist act.
Swedish officials’ allowing Paludan to carry out his blatantly anti-Islam and anti-Türkiye act also puts more strain on bilateral ties between the two countries, especially amid the Nordic country’s bid to join NATO, which is likely to hit a dead-end following the turbulent weekend.
Almost in confirmation of the possibility, Kurtulmuş expressed that there was a "certain significance and meaning" to Paludan’s insensitive act in front of the Turkish Embassy. "They want to say that ‘We see Türkiye as the pioneer and defender of 2 billion Muslims.’"
He said Türkiye wants every problem to be resolved through diplomacy and "has many times openly expressed its stance on Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership process."
Stressing that Türkiye is "a country that is loyal to its word," Kurtulmuş said: "It isn’t that difficult to extradite terrorists to Türkiye and prevent attacks targeting President (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan with very little (time) left to the elections."
Sweden "very well knows," who these terrorists are, he noted, adding: "While they keep negotiating with us on one hand, they don’t want to end their close relationship with terrorism on the other."
"It’s very obvious that at this rate, Sweden’s NATO membership application will never be approved by Türkiye who will expect Sweden to fulfill the commitments it has signed up for," Kurtulmuş said.
Alarm bells for Europe
He also argued that Paludan’s police protection while he burned the Quran was "proof that freedom of expression doesn’t exist."
He slammed Sweden for remaining silent about the widespread public demonstrations by the sympathizers of the PKK and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), saying that these groups found the "courage" to commit such public displays of terror support "because they know they will not face any backlash."
"What’s more saddening is that (Swedish authorities) allowed the Muslims’ holy book, the Quran, to be burned for a cheap political gain and this fascist, despicable politician to carry out his act in a police protection circle," he censured.
"The right to openly insult the sanctity of another is nowhere in the world considered a democratic right. This demonstration is an alarm bell for Europe," Kurtulmuş warned.
Since officially applying for membership in May 2022, spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland have been striving and struggling to secure Türkiye’s approval for joining the bloc. The government is objecting to their accession on the grounds of security concerns, namely "harboring and tolerating" terrorist groups like the PKK and the FETÖ.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) the sides inked at a NATO summit in Madrid stipulates that the two countries take concrete steps to address the said concerns, increase their crackdown on terrorist organizations and deport people suspected of terrorism-related crimes.
For the last month, however, public support in Sweden for the terrorist groups from their sympathizers has been raising the tensions between the two countries, which Ankara has repeatedly warned would jeopardize Stockholm’s NATO membership process.
A scandalous protest in Stockholm in mid-January in which an effigy of President Erdoğan was hanged from its feet in front of the city hall has particularly impaired negotiations but the boiling point became Saturday’s Quran burning session.
Türkiye summoned the Swedish ambassador and canceled a visit by Swedish Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlen, as well as Defense Minister Pal Jonson to Ankara. Amid an outpouring of international denouncements, dozens of Turkish officials, including defense and foreign ministers as well as opposition party leaders, slammed Sweden for enabling Paludan.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson tweeted late Saturday that freedom of expression was crucial to democracy but added that "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," Kristersson said.
However, Türkiye remains incensed about the incident and Sweden’s bid to ascend to NATO seems more in peril than ever.