(MENAFN- Hip Hop-24) John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for national security at the White House, said Sweden, Finland and Turkey should resolve their differences.
Kirby pointed out in a press conference, on Friday, that Washington strongly supports the accession of Sweden and Finland to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization "NATO", but it believes that the differences with Turkey among the three countries should be resolved.
He pointed out that the United States is aware of Turkey's concerns regarding Sweden and Finland's membership in NATO, stressing the need to continue negotiations in this regard.
On June 28, 2022, Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding regarding the accession of the latter two countries to NATO, after they pledged to respond to Ankara's demands regarding cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
On January 21, the leader of the Danish far-right "hard line" party, Rasmus Paludan, burned a copy of the Qur'an near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm, amid tight police protection that prevented anyone from approaching him while he was committing the provocative act.
On a large scale, this abuse caused an uproar in the Muslim world, and Turkey considered it a "provocative act" of "hate crimes" and canceled a visit by Swedish Defense Minister Pal Johnson to Ankara.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a message to Sweden not to wait for Ankara's support regarding its membership in NATO, as long as it does not respect Islamic beliefs.
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