by Claudio Del Frate
The episode in Stockholm during a demonstration of the extreme right. In retaliation, Erdogan canceled the planned meetings to expand the Atlantic Alliance. But he’s been upping the ante under any pretense for some time now
Turkey has decided to indefinitely suspend trilateral talks with Sweden and Finland on the two Scandinavian countries’ accession to NATO. The decision was announced by President Erdogan, who will also meet with military leaders later in the day. Ankara kept the Atlantic alliance in check for months by opposing the expansion to include the two Scandinavian countries and repeatedly making its terms more expensive. The reason for the rivet this time was an anti-Turkish and anti-Islamic demonstration last weekend in Stockholm, during which a Koran was set on fire.
The trilateral meeting was scheduled for early February as part of a process that began in August 2022: Sweden and Finland had broken their centuries-old neutrality following Russia’s aggression on Ukraine by asking for a place under the political umbrella and the NATO military . According to Turkish media, Erdogan has accused Sweden of allowing terror sympathizers to spread hate propaganda unhindered. As long as he does not respect the religion of Turkey and the Muslims, he will not receive any support from us on the NATO issue.
The triggering episode happened in Stockholm on Saturday, when thousands of Kurdish refugees staged a protest demonstration in front of the Ankara embassy. This was accompanied by a demonstration called by far-right anti-immigration movements; here the leader of the hardline party, Rasmus Paludan, who was not new to similar gestures, had set a copy of the Koran on fire at the end of a very extreme rally and under the eyes of the police.
The blatant gesture had in turn led to anti-Swedish protests in front of the embassy in Ankara and to Erdogan’s first stance. He had called on Stockholm to suppress and punish those responsible for such demonstrations. However, the Swedish government had replied that burning the Koran was not a crime in Sweden, although it did not share the content and tone of the extreme right’s protest. Within a few hours, the escalation and diplomatic tensions reached their peak and led to the indefinite halt to NATO talks on the Turkish side. Paludan’s blasphemy, meanwhile, has sparked violent street protests against Sweden in several Islamic countries, including Afghanistan and Palestine.
From the outset, Erdogan has spoken out against Sweden and Finland joining the alliance under any pretext. The most important condition so far was the demand to extradite 150 Kurdish refugees in the two countries classified by Turkey as terrorists to Ankara. The commitment to Erdogan is considered very high, also because in June there will be a vote on the new members of parliament. All parliaments of the NATO countries, with the exception of Turkey and Hungary, have already approved the enlargement of the alliance.
January 25, 2023 (change January 25, 2023 | 12:20)
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