The Turkish government has canceled the visit of a Swedish minister to Ankara. For President Erdoğan, Sweden’s application for NATO membership is a welcome opportunity to exert pressure on other issues and score points domestically.
Once again there is a dispute between the Turkish and Swedish governments – and as is so often the case, it is about NATO membership, which Stockholm has applied for as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Sweden’s application for membership is a welcome opportunity to put pressure on Stockholm on other issues and score points domestically. Elections are due in Turkey in June and it is not certain whether Erdoğan will emerge victorious.
Erdoğan’s leverage is: All 30 NATO members must ratify the proposals. Turkey accuses Sweden of supporting “terrorist organizations” and demands the extradition of a number of people whom Ankara regards as terrorists in exchange for its approval of Sweden’s NATO membership.
Now there is a new development: the Turkish government has canceled a visit by Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson to Ankara that was planned for next Friday. The background is the protests planned for this Saturday in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. The Danish right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan wants to take part in it. He has announced that he will burn a Koran. There will also be a pro-Kurdish demonstration in downtown Stockholm.
Turkey’s Defense Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying by the state news agency Anadolu that Sweden has failed to take action against “disgusting” anti-Turkish protests on its soil.
The demonstration in front of the embassy is not the only provocation the Turkish government has complained about. During a recent protest in central Stockholm, activists hung a doll resembling Erdogan by its feet. Turkey then canceled a visit to Ankara by Swedish Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlén.
Sweden’s Defense Minister Jonson is now downplaying the cancellation of his visit: “Yesterday I met my Turkish colleague Hulusi Akar at the US military airfield in Ramstein,” he tweeted on Saturday. “We have decided to postpone the planned meeting in Ankara to a later date.”