Explained: Why Turkey Doesn't Want Sweden's Entry Into NATO

Sweden¡¯s entry into NATO is based upon Ankara¡¯s assent. But the recent Qur¡¯an burning incident has infuriated Muslims worldwide and made Turkiye adamant not to allow Sweden within the international military alliance.

Rasmus Pauldan, leader of a far-right Swedish party Hard Line, burned the Qur¡¯an on 21st January in front of the Turkish embassy in Sweden. And Ankara, under Erdogan, hasn¡¯t taken this matter lightly.

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¡°We condemn in the strongest possible terms the vile attack on our holy book¡­ Permitting this anti-Islam act, which targets Muslims and insults our sacred values, under the guise of freedom of expression is completely unacceptable,¡±. Al Jazeera quoted the Turkish foreign ministry.

Taking two divergent viewpoints on the same incident- one justifying the action based on an absolutist freedom of expression metric, and the other on relativism- the Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu denounced the action as,¡¯ racist..(and) not about freedom of expression; while the far-right politician who burned the Qur¡¯an said,¡¯ If you don¡¯t think there should be freedom of expression, you have to live somewhere else,¡±.

The incident kicked up a storm in Muslim countries and they had to release statements expressing their dismay and denouncing the act. The countries, other than Turkiye, are Pakistan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Iran, Jordan, Egypt and the international Muslim organization, Organisation for Islamic Cooperation(OIC).
Following the widespread condemnation by Muslim countries, the Swedish Foreign Minister, Tobias Billsotm, on Twitter wrote,¡¯¡¯ Sweden has a far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish Government, or myself, support the opinions expressed¡¯¡¯.
The incident has put a huge roadblock on Stockholm¡¯s road to NATO membership.

What is NATO?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) describes itself as,¡¯ an alliance of countries from Europe and North America.¡¯ and currently has 30 members.
NATO was born on April 4th 1949 and the treaty was signed by North American and West European countries. The earliest signatories to the treaty were a group of 12 countries ¡®who were sworn to stand together against aggression; an attack against one would be an attack against all.¡¯

Where does NATO configure in this issue?

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Sweden hopes to become a part of this international military and strategic organisation because of the Russia-Ukraine war that has caused Europe to take the issue gravely. The Swedish government website writes,¡¯ It is the Government¡¯s assessment that NATO membership is the best way for Sweden to protect its security in light of the fundamentally changed security environment following Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine.

On 16 March, the Government set up a working group to deliberate on the changed security environment following Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine. The decision to apply for NATO membership was based in part on the working group¡¯s report..¡¯

How would NATO Membership affect Sweden?

NATO

The Swedish government quotes the answer to this question on its website,¡¯In response to Russia¡¯s invasion of Ukraine, the Government set up a working group comprising representatives of all the parties of the Riksdag(Swedish legislative and decision-making body) to deliberate on the changed security environment. On 13 May the working group published its report, Deterioration of the security environment ¨C implications for Sweden (Ds 2022:7).

The report states:

¡°For Sweden, the primary effect of NATO membership would be that Sweden would become part of NATO¡¯s collective security and be covered by the security guarantees enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.¡±

Swedish hopes

The entry into NATO depends upon the consent of all existing members, and ¡®Until all NATO member countries have ratified Sweden¡¯s application for NATO membership, Sweden has the status of applicant country (invitee).¡¯

But the recent Qur¡¯an burning incident and Sweden¡¯s tolerance of Kurdish groups hasn¡¯t sat down well with Ankara and Sweden might remain an invitee to NATO in the foreseeable future.