Türkiye looks positively on Finland's application for NATO membership, but does not support Sweden's bid, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday.
"Sweden should not bother to try at this point. We will not say 'yes' to their NATO application as long as they allow burning of the Koran," Erdoğan said in a speech to the AK Party deputies in parliament.
Erdoğan signalled on Sunday that Ankara could agree to Finland joining NATO ahead of Sweden and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu on Monday made similar statements.
"We closely follow developments regarding NATO's enlargement process. Our view on Finland is positive, but not on Sweden," he said, signaling a willingness to support Finland's NATO bid separately from Sweden's.
His remarks came after Danish-Swedish extremist Rasmus Paludan last week burned copies of the Quran on two separate occasions, first outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm and then later in front of a mosque in Denmark. Paludan also said he would burn the Muslim holy book every Friday until Sweden is admitted to the NATO alliance.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO last May, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine, which started on Feb. 24, 2022.
Under a memorandum signed last June between Türkiye, Sweden, and Finland, the two Nordic countries pledged to take steps against terrorists to gain membership in the NATO alliance.
In the agreement, Sweden and Finland agreed not to provide support to terrorist groups such as the PKK and its offshoots, and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), and to extradite terror suspects to Türkiye, among other steps.
Unanimous agreement from all NATO members -- including Türkiye, a member for more than 70 years -- is needed for any new members to be admitted to the alliance.
