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STOCKHOLM, Jan. 21 (AP) — Sweden is preparing for Saturday’s demonstrations that could complicate its efforts to persuade Turkey to approve its membership in NATO, which has drawn Turkey’s ire.
A far-right activist from Denmark has obtained police permission to stage a protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, where he plans to burn Islam’s holy book, the Qur’an. Meanwhile, pro-Turkish and pro-Kurdish groups are planning demonstrations in the Swedish capital.
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Turkey has so far refused to approve Sweden’s and Finland’s applications to join NATO, which requires all member states to sign up. Turkey says Sweden in particular needs to crack down on Kurds and other groups Ankara considers terrorists.
Sweden has assured Turkey that it will not allow any terrorist group to enter Swedish territory. But pro-Kurdish and anti-NATO groups have complicated matters for the Swedish government by staging anti-Turkish demonstrations that have angered the government, including the brief hanging of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan outside Stockholm’s city hall last week Ann’s portrait.
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Tensions could escalate further on Saturday when anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan plans to burn a Koran outside the Turkish embassy. Paludan, who also holds Swedish citizenship, has previously staged similar protests in Denmark and Sweden, some of which sparked violent counter-demonstrations.
Turkey summoned Sweden’s ambassador to Ankara to condemn Paludan’s protest, Turkey’s official Anadolu Agency said on Friday.
Ankara also said a “propaganda campaign” by pro-Kurdish groups linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) would be a “clear violation” of a joint memorandum signed by Turkey, Sweden and Finland that blocked Turkey’s veto over the Nordic countries in June. Join NATO. Turkey, the United States and the European Union designate the PKK as a terrorist organization, and Sweden and Finland said in the memo that they also “confirmed” that designation.
Sweden respects freedom of expression, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bierstrom told TT news agency on Friday. He did not want to speculate on how Paludan’s protests, which had been authorized by the police, would affect Sweden’s NATO bid, while noting that “everything that unnecessarily prolongs the process is of course something we take very seriously”.
A group calling itself the Swedish Rojava Solidarity Council, which claims to be behind the statue, is also planning a demonstration on Saturday against Erdogan and Sweden’s NATO membership, TT reported. Meanwhile, pro-Turkish activists are expected to gather near the Turkish embassy for a separate demonstration.
Sweden and Finland have ditched decades of nonalignment and applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine. Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO countries that have not yet ratified their membership. (Associated Press)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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