(MENAFN- AzerNews) Sweden wants to resume dialogue with Türkiye, Prime Minister Ulf
Kristersson said Tuesday, shortly after the latter announced that
it has canceled upcoming talks with Stockholm and Helsinki on their
NATO membership following the Quran burning incident on the
weekend, daily sabah reports.
'Our collective message is that we want to call for calm, for
reflection, for calm in the process so that we can return to
functioning talks between Sweden, Finland and Türkiye on our common
NATO membership,' Kristersson told a news conference, adding that
he wanted a return to 'dialogue.'
Türkiye earlier in the day said it had postponed upcoming NATO
accession talks with Sweden and Finland previously scheduled for
February.
Ankara announced its decision one day after President Recep
Tayyip Erdoğan lashed out at Sweden and said it should not expect
Türkiye's support for its NATO bid for allowing weekend protests
that included the burning of the Quran outside Türkiye's
embassy.
'If you don't respect the religion of Türkiye or Muslims, you
won't get any support from us on NATO,' he said, noting that it is
evident that Sweden should not expect Ankara's support for its NATO
bid after authorizing such a shameful scandal in front of the
Turkish embassy.
'That is not happening,' he said, adding that if Sweden prefers
terrorist sympathizers and Islamophobes, then Türkiye suggests they
should let them defend their country too.
A Turkish diplomatic source said the trilateral meeting has been
canceled indefinitely, without providing further details.
Kristersson said there were 'provocateurs who wanted to spoil
Sweden's relations with other countries' and foil its bid to join
the U.S.-led Western military alliance.
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