Monitoring Desk
STOCKHOLM: Police in Sweden on Wednesday denied approval for a protest involving the burning of a Holy Qur’an, after a January demonstration that annoyed Turkiye, putting Sweden’s pending NATO request on hold.
Sweden
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said at the end of January that Sweden could no longer expect Ankara to endorse its NATO membership bid, as long as incidents of burning of the Holy Qur’an were allowed.
Hungary and Turkiye are the last holdouts to approve Sweden’s NATO membership after the Scandinavian nation applied for it after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Read Also: Turkey Summons Danish Envoy over Holy Quran’s Desecration
The incident of the Holy Qur’an burning prompted anti-Swedish protest demonstrations in Muslim countries.
Negotiations with Ankara on NATO accession have also been suspended since then.
