ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly criticized Sweden on Thursday for allowing a protest outside a mosque in which a man burned pages from the Holy Quran, further complicating Sweden’s prospects of swiftly joining NATO.
During the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, an Iraqi man staged the protest outside Stockholm’s main mosque after receiving a permit from Swedish police. Erdogan, in televised remarks, condemned Sweden’s decision and expressed his determination to challenge Western disrespect towards Muslims.
“We will eventually teach the arrogant Westerners that insulting Muslims is not freedom of thought,” Erdogan declared. “We will show our strongest possible reaction until we achieve a resolute victory against terrorist organizations and Islamophobia.”
Erdogan’s stern words came just ahead of a scheduled meeting between the top diplomats of Turkey and Sweden in Brussels to discuss Sweden’s NATO membership bid. However, Turkey and Hungary, both NATO members, have been delaying the ratification of Sweden’s application, which has already been approved by all other member nations of the US-led defense alliance.
Sweden’s NATO Membership Bid
Western officials had hoped to officially welcome Sweden into NATO during the upcoming summit in Lithuania on July 11-12. However, the recent incident and Erdogan’s remarks have cast doubt on the timeline.
Stockholm police, in their written decision granting the permit for the protest, stated that the security risks associated with the Quran burning “did not justify, under current laws, a decision to reject the request.”
Erdogan held Swedish officials responsible for the incident and emphasized that those who committed the act and those who allowed it under the guise of freedom of speech would not succeed in their ambitions.
