The Swedish authorities are pushing Turkey toward take a tougher position on Stockholm’s bid for NATO membership by actually condoning anti-Islam rallies, complete with desecration of the Quran, a diplomatic source in Turkey said.
The source said that the meeting of Turkish, Swedish and Finnish representatives expected in Brussels on July 6 may come into question following the scandalous activity in Stockholm, which was offensive to Ankara.
"Sweden can hardly expect Turkey to approve its membership bid in such a situation, not only before the NATO summit set to take place in Vilnius on July 11-12 but also in the foreseeable future after the event," TASS cited the source as saying.
The Turkish authorities strongly condemned the burning of the Quran in Stockholm on the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. The anti-Islam demonstrations had been authorized by the Swedish police.
