Today, Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the Swedish Ambassador to Ankara after broadcasting on official Swedish television a program that Ankara considered containing an “insult”, according to the official Turkish news agency Anatolia.
Anadolu said: “Swedish Ambassador to Ankara Staffan Herström was summoned to the Foreign Ministry today in connection with the broadcast on Swedish state television of a program containing offensive statements and photographs of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey.”
Tensions prevail between Ankara and Stockholm, and Turkey has been threatening since mid-May to prevent Sweden from joining NATO.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday repeated his threat that he could prevent Sweden and Finland from being accepted into NATO if the two countries did not “keep up” their promises.
Erdogan accuses Sweden and Finland of protecting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish YPG, which Ankara considers terrorists.
Anadolu said a Swedish delegation met in Ankara on Wednesday with officials from the Turkish Ministry of Justice after a tripartite meeting was held in Finland in late August.
The meeting focused on extradition requests that were either pending or had previously been rejected by Sweden.
The most difficult moments discussed are related to the transfer of dozens of opponents to Ankara, most of whom are Kurdish militants or members of the Fethullah Gülen movement.
So far, 28 of the 30 members of the US-dominated alliance have been ratified by Sweden and Finland, while Hungary and Turkey have yet to give final approval through their parliaments.
