Pushkov: the only serious response to Turkey would be to block Sweden’s entry into NATO
Senator Alexei Pushkov believes that the only serious response to the Turkish unfriendly actions of Sweden would be to block this country’s entry into NATO.
Earlier, Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right party Tough Course, held an action near the Turkish Embassy in Sweden with a burnt Muslim holy book. The country’s authorities sanctioned the event.
In response, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the Swedish authorities for allowing the action. The diplomats called it “a clear violation of the obligation of the tripartite memorandum, which Sweden signed, to prevent the propaganda of terrorist organizations.
Ankara stressed that it expects Sweden to take “concrete and effective steps beyond rhetoric, especially in the fight against terrorism,” in accordance with its NATO commitments.
“Turkey is now being tested, a test of its perception in the world as an important and, most importantly, autonomous political force. If everything is limited to actions with burning Swedish flags, indignant statements of the Turkish Foreign Ministry and threats against Sweden by Turkish parliamentarians, and “menacing” promises to make life difficult for Sweden in the future, it will be clear that Sweden has won. The only response confirming the seriousness of Turkey’s intentions would be to block Sweden’s entry into NATO. Everything else is a PR game, which has no relation to real policy and in any case leaves Turkey ‘with a nose,'” Pushkov wrote in Telegram.
He noted that Turkey would have benefited from “bargaining in the form of receiving ‘compensations’ from the United States, namely deliveries of advanced military aircraft, which Ankara has long sought.”
However, this would not repair the damage to Turkey’s image, the senator believes,
Earlier, Radio Sputnik reported how Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reacted to the burning of the Koran near the Turkish Embassy in the country.
