ISTANBUL, Turkey — Turkey’s president said Monday Sweden shouldn’t expect support for NATO membership following weekend protests in Stockholm by an anti-Islam activist and pro-Kurdish groups.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Rasmus Paludan’s Quran-burning protest on Saturday, saying it was an insult to everyone, especially to Muslims. He also criticized Swedish authorities for allowing the demonstration to take place outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.
Erdogan also criticized Sweden for pro-Kurdish protests where demonstrators waved flags of various Kurdish groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey. The PKK is considered a terrorist group in Turkey, the European Union and the United States, but its symbols aren’t banned in Sweden.