A hanged Erdogan puppet, a burning Koran
A wild argument about Sweden joining NATO
Turkey continues to refuse to allow Sweden to join NATO. A planned visit to Ankara by the Swedish Ministry of Defense has now been canceled due to irritation caused by various protests.
Published: 01/21/2023 18:09
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Putting Sweden under pressure: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Turkish government has canceled a planned visit to Ankara by Swedish Defense Minister Paul Johnson next Friday. Sweden has failed to take action against “disgusting” anti-Turkish protests on its soil, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said, state news agency Anadolu reported.
Ankara was angered by the Swedish government’s approval of Danish-born right-wing extremist Rasmus Balutan’s planned demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm on Saturday. He had announced that he wanted to burn a copy of the Koran, the holy book of Islam. Many pro-Kurdish and pro-Turkish demonstrations were expected in Stockholm on Saturday.
Ankara demands extradition of “terrorists”.
Sweden wants Turkey to stop blocking NATO membership Sweden and neighboring Finland applied for membership in May 2022 following the Russian attack on Ukraine. All 30 NATO members must ratify the proposals. Turkey accuses Sweden of supporting “terrorist organizations” and has demanded the extradition of many it considers terrorists.
Fresh clashes between the two countries sparked a recent protest in central Stockholm, where activists hung a doll resembling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by its leg. They wanted to put Erdogan closer to Benito Mussolini, the fascist Italian dictator who was hanged upside down in Milan in 1945. As a result, Turkey canceled the visit of Swedish Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlin to Ankara.
Johnson downplays the cancellation of his visit. “Yesterday I met my Turkish colleague Hulusi Agar at the US military airfield in Ramstein, Germany,” he tweeted on Saturday. “We have decided to postpone the planned meeting in Ankara to a later date.” (SDA/no)
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