Sweden can't join NATO if Quran-burning is allowed, says Erdogan
The HinduTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reaffirmed Wednesday that Turkey won’t allow Sweden to join the NATO military alliance as long as the Scandinavian country permits protests desecrating Islam’s holy book to take place. As long as you allow my holy book, the Quran, to be burned and torn, and you do so together with your security forces, we will not say ‘yes’ to your entry into NATO,” Mr. Erdogan said in a speech to his ruling party’s legislators. Mr. Erdogan also repeated that Turkey’s view on Finland’s membership was “positive.” “But it is not positive about Sweden, that should be known,” Mr. Erdogan said. Meanwhile, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström told Swedish news agency TT that his country was complying with an agreement reached by Turkey, Sweden and Finland last year, but said that “religion is not part of the agreement.” “Having said that, I fully understand that people take offense to the burning of holy writings and perceive it as deeply hurtful,” he said.