Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Sweden that they are “wasting time” trying to win NATO membership, suggesting that he “will not say yes” to their application.
Sweden and Finland broke their military neutrality last year following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, calling to be acceded to the alliance.
The request was welcomed by NATO member states and the general secretary Jens Stoltenberg, but ongoing issues with what Turkey views as terrorist groups within Sweden are making its accession difficult.
Every member of the 30-nation alliance needs to approve membership of new applicants, and Turkey and Hungary are the only countries yet to have done so for Sweden and Finland.
The Hungarian parliament is expected to approve the bids in February.
President Erdogan has taken issue with Sweden’s refusal to extradite dozens of people that Ankara has linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a failed 2016 coup attempt.
Mr Erdogan is facing an election in May and has dug in his heels over Sweden’s NATO membership in an attempt to energise his conservative and nationalist supporters.
On Sunday, he repeated his demand for Sweden to hand over some 120 alleged suspects.
In his latest comments on Wednesday, speaking at the congress of his party, he said: “Sweden should not waste time. As long as you allow us to burn our holy book – the Koran, tear it up, and your law enforcement officers do not act against this background, we will not say yes to your joining NATO.”
The Turkish President was referencing protests a fortnight ago outside the Turkish embassy in which religious books were burned.
The President added, however, that Turkey was positive about Finland’s intention to join the alliance.
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