Türkiye, Hungary in coordination over Sweden's NATO bid, says Turkish FM

Sweden has taken significant steps to meet the criteria for its NATO membership but still needs to do more, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

Sweden's bid for NATO membership has been a subject of intense coordination and discussion with Hungary, Fidan said at joint press conference with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto in Budapest on Friday.

Türkiye plays a crucial role in evaluating if a potential NATO member has the ability to align with the US-led security alliance's anti-terrorism and security paradigm, he said.

After Russsian forces attacked Ukraine last year, Finland and Sweden sought to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the 31-member security alliance.

But membership depends on consensus of all the members. Türkiye, which has the second-largest military force in NATO, was concerned about presence of PKK and YPG terrorists in Finland and Sweden.

In the case of Finland, Türkiye finds its efforts against terrorism satisfactory, and that's why it was admitted into NATO in April, said Fidan.

Stepping back from Ankara's hard position against Sweden's bid to join NATO, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month forwarded the matter to Turkish parliament, which will take a final decision in October.

Sweden has revised its definition of terrorism and reformed its judicial approach to counterterrorism by amending its constitution and laws in June after multiple engagements with Ankara, Fidan said.

"Türkiye's legitimate concerns and demands regarding the EU and NATO security architecture should be addressed and considered by the EU and NATO allies", he added.

Quran-burning

The Turkish foreign minister strongly condemned incidents of desecration of Quran that have occurred in some European cities, terming them a plague.

"Looking at recent history, there are many lessons to be learned. Everything in Europe started with book-burning, and those books were burned under state supervision ... After the burning of books, there were concentration camps, and we know what happened after that," he said.

Türkiye believes that insulting sacred books under state's watch and defining it as freedom of expression is wrong, Fidan said, adding: "Strategic, social, and other developments that will arise from this are not well understood."

Türkiye cannot tolerate the denigration of sacred values, he noted.

"We think that European politicians and statesmen are just starting to develop awareness on this issue, and although we see some awareness, how they will reflect this in their practices and policymaking remains to be seen."

"We will continue to show our strongest reaction on international platforms, and continue our efforts to increase international solidarity and cooperation on this matter."

In the past few days, copies of the Quran were burned in Sweden and Denmark, actions that met widespread condemnation from Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and other countries.

Türkiye's role in new era

For his part, Szijjarto said the world has entered a new geopolitical and economic era, in which Türkiye's role is "much more significant than ever, not only for Hungary but also for the security of the whole of Europe ... both physical and energy security."

He emphasised that Türkiye is taking significant steps to become one of the world's top 10 economic powers, highlighting how Hungary wants to accompany Türkiye in that journey.

Szijjarto agreed with Fidan about the repurcussion of hurting religions sentiments.

"We are a Christian country with a thousand years of Christian government, taking Christianity seriously. I must say that, for us, it is entirely unacceptable. The demeaning of any religion's books and symbols, the burning of sacred scriptures, is absolutely unacceptable," he said.

Burning sacred books cannot be accepted as freedom of expression under any circumstances, he added.