STOCKHOLM
In Stockholm, a demonstration is taking place on the bridge between the Parliament and the Royal Palace. The bridge is closed to traffic because a group of Muslims have gathered to pray and demonstrate against the desecration of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
At the end of June, an Iraqi man burned a Koran in front of a mosque in Stockholm. In January, a Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan burned a Koran near the Turkish embassy.
The police have received new ones applications from people planning similar types of events.
The Koran burnings have become part of Sweden’s difficult road to NATO, when Turkey has got a new reason to block Sweden’s acceptance of NATO membership.
Now we hope for a breakthrough once again.
On Monday, the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson meet in Vilnius and the next day the NATO summit begins.
However, Turkey has continued to criticize Sweden in recent days as well.
– I’m not optimistic. But there is a possibility that Sweden would receive a positive message from the meetings in Vilnius. It is positive that the United States is now working hard to complete Sweden’s NATO membership, says a Turkey expert Paul Levin from Stockholm University.
Levin heads the university’s Department of Turkish Studies.
Support for NATO membership at the Koran demonstration
There is also support for Sweden’s NATO membership in the Koran demonstration.
The protester, who did not give his name, says Swedish Muslims should send a delegation to persuade President Erdoğan.
– If Russia attacks here, it doesn’t matter if you are Christian, Muslim or something else, the man says and adds that burning the Koran should be banned, but that is an internal matter for Sweden.
Sweden and Finland signed a year ago at the NATO summit in Madrid documentin which the countries undertake to intensify cooperation with Turkey against, among other things, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK.
“Sweden has done everything possible”
The document is not an exact program of action. Turkey reads the paper in its own way and gives Sweden new homework, but Paul Levin thinks that Sweden has done what it can.
– The authorities’ anti-terrorism work continues, but I would say that now the decisive discussions are taking place between Turkey and the United States.
Turkey and the United States have been discussing the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey for a long time, and the United States seems to be linking the deals to Sweden’s NATO membership, among other things.
Sweden’s review continues in Turkey
The Koran burnings of January and the end of June have made Turkey very angry. Turkey also constantly criticizes the fact that supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party have been allowed to wave PKK flags on the streets of Stockholm,
– The biggest difference between Finland and Sweden is that Sweden has a much larger Kurdish community and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK is active in Sweden in a way that I don’t think occurs in Finland, says Paul Levin.
Turkey has demanded the prevention of demonstrations supporting the PKK. It sounds impossible. In Sweden, however, it is discussed about whether the public burning of the Koran and other religious books could be prevented by law, as in Finland.
According to Levin, the discussion about the limits of freedom of expression is difficult when the situation is, so to speak, on top of each other and Turkey is threatening Sweden.
Another tricky issue concerns the extradition of Kurdish activists and opponents of President Erdoğan. In Turkey’s opinion, the opponents are terrorists, but their demand for extradition has almost always been rejected by the Swedish Supreme Court in recent years.
President Erdoğan has publicly spoken about more than a hundred “terrorists” to be handed over.
Tough talk, but no surrender requests
Journalist focusing on security issues John Granlund The Swedish TV, SVT, says that the reality appears to be quite different, despite Erdoğan’s tough speeches.
– There are two hundred names on the lists published in the Turkish state media, but the number of extradition requests has decreased. This year there has been only one new request.
It seems that Turkey may not be serious about extraditions after all, even though Erdoğan keeps the issue up.
The Turkish president has even named one to be extradited, a journalist Bülent Kenesin, who once worked for a newspaper close to the Gülen movement accused of the 2016 coup attempt.
– Erdoğan has to some extent painted himself into a corner. He controls Turkey’s state-owned and formally independent media, so he can make sudden translations without difficulty. He has done that before, says Paul Levin.
Both Levin and Granlund are of the opinion that the United States now plays a key role in opening the deadlock.
– If progress is made in the US-Turkey discussions on fighter jet purchases, the meeting between Kristersson and Erdoğan on Monday may go better than previously expected, says Paul Levin.
According to him, the Turkish parliament will still be sitting until the end of next week, so Erdoğan could perhaps announce the ratification in Vilnius and then the matter would go to the parliament.
Does Kristersson make Niinistöt?
According to SVT’s John Granlund, the meeting between Kristersson and Erdoğan could at best proceed like Sauli Niinistö’s trip to Ankara in March.
That’s when Erdogan announced that Turkey would ratify Finland’s membership and the matter was settled in two weeks. Now the schedule could be even tighter.
Or not, because even in recent days President Erdoğan has continued to criticize Sweden for protecting terrorists. In addition to the PKK, he has referred to the person accused of the 2016 coup attempt by Fethullah Gülen followers who have also fled to Sweden.
– It may be that Sweden has to wait until the next NATO summit. There are no guarantees, Erdoğan decides, says Paul Levin.
Also, Hungary has not yet ratified Sweden’s NATO membership, but Hungary is mainly considered a trailer for Turkey. It works when Turkey works.
The next known NATO summit after Vilnius is likely to be held in Washington next year.
In 2024, the 75th anniversary of the Finnish Defense League will be celebrated. If Sweden is still waiting in the wings even then, it does not bode well for NATO’s ability to operate.
Will Sweden join NATO? You can discuss the topic until Monday, July 10 at 11:00 p.m.