Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday that a planned visit by his Swedish counterpart to Ankara had been canceled after Swedish authorities allowed protests in Stockholm.
Aker said, “At this point, Swedish Defense Minister Páll Jónsson’s visit to Turkey on 27 January has become meaningless. That’s why we canceled the visit.”
Swedish Defense Minister Jonsson had planned to visit Ankara next week at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart as the Nordic country hopes to ratify its bid for Turkey to join NATO.
Akar said he discussed with President Tayyip Erdogan Turkey’s lack of measures against the protests in Sweden and conveyed his reaction to his Swedish counterpart on the sidelines of a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
“Not acting or reacting to these (protests) is unacceptable. Necessary things need to be done, measures must be taken,” Akar said, according to a statement by Turkey’s Defense Ministry.
Turkey summoned the Swedish ambassador on Saturday for permission to hold a protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in which the Quran, the Muslim holy book, would be burned.