Stockholm (France 24) A far-right Danish activist has been allowed by police to protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, intending to burn the Quran, the holy book of Islam.
Meanwhile, both pro-Turkish and pro-Kurdish groups are planning demonstrations in the Swedish capital.
Turkey has so far refused to agree to a proposal by Sweden and Finland to join NATO, which requires the approval of all member states.
Turkey says Sweden in particular must crack down on Kurds and other groups Turkey considers terrorists.
Sweden has assured Turkey that it will not allow terrorist groups in Sweden. But pro-Kurdish and anti-NATO groups have complicated matters for the Swedish government by staging anti-Turkey demonstrations that have infuriated the Turkish government, including an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that was briefly hung outside Stockholm’s City Hall last week.
Tensions could rise further on Saturday when anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan plans to burn a Quran outside the Turkish Embassy. Paludan, who also holds Swedish citizenship, has staged similar protests before in both Denmark and Sweden, some of which have sparked violent counter demonstrations.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström told news agency TT on Friday that Sweden respects the freedom of speech. He didn’t want to speculate on how Paludan’s protest, which has been authorized by police, would affect Sweden’s NATO bid, while noting that “everything that prolongs the process unnecessarily is of course something we take very seriously.”
A group calling itself the Swedish Solidarity Committee for Rojava, which claimed it was behind the effigy, is also planning a demonstration against Erdogan and Swedish NATO accession on Saturday, TT reported. Meanwhile, pro-Turkish activists are said to be gathering for another demonstration near the Turkish embassy.
Sweden and Finland have applied for NATO membership after decades of non-alignment after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members that have not yet agreed to join.
