After objecting for a year to Sweden’s bid to join NATO, Turkey finally relented. But tensions are still high, with recent Quran burnings, Kurdish groups, and Turkey’s EU membership bid at the center
Despite Turkey’s recent agreement to ratify Sweden’s bid to join the NATO alliance this October, tensions have continued to rise around the issue, especially following the recent burnings and desecrations of the Quran in Stockholm and in Copenhagen.
Various Muslim countries, including Iran, Iraq, and Jordan, have condemned the Nordic countries for allowing such actions to be carried out and for not punishing the perpetrators. In response, those countries have stated that they do not support the actions but they do protect the right to freedom of expression by their citizens. Protests have surged in front of those countries’ embassies in the region.