Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country could give Finland a “different message” that would “shock Sweden,” referring to the possibility of Ankara agreeing to Helsinki’s accession to NATO ( NATO).
“We can give Finland a different message if necessary, then Sweden will be shocked, but Finland should not make the same mistake,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Erdogan was speaking during a meeting in Bilecik, central Turkey, on Sunday, about Sweden’s demand to hand over 120 Kurds whom Turkey considers “terrorists”, in return for Ankara’s agreement to join NATO. Which Stockholm did not do.
Under NATO rules, only one member country can object to a new membership application.
Turkish President Samah criticized the Swedish authorities for organizing a demonstration of the extreme right in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, and burning a copy of the Qur’an in its vicinity.
Later, Turkish protesters burned the Swedish flag in the streets of Ankara and in front of the Swedish embassy in Turkey.
On Saturday, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said he did not expect progress in NATO membership applications for his country and Sweden before the Turkish elections next May, but he believed the Scandinavian countries were still on track to eventually join the military alliance, it said. Finnish Public Broadcasting (Yle).
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