Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that he will take a decision regarding the countries that closed their consulates in Istanbul, during a government meeting tomorrow.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that his country will take a decision tomorrow regarding some countries closing their consulates in Istanbul, following the closure of about 9 countries for security reasons.
“We will take the necessary decisions tomorrow during the government meeting regarding the closure of some countries’ consulates in Istanbul,” the Turkish president said, in televised statements, on Sunday.
A few days ago, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced that it had summoned the ambassadors of 9 countries, including the United States, France and Italy, after countries suspended the work of their consulates due to the threat of “terrorist acts” in Turkey.
In a related context, the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced, last Thursday, that it had summoned the Norwegian ambassador to Ankara, and lodged a protest with him, against the backdrop of an event that will take place tomorrow in Oslo, during which the Qur’an will be burned.
A source in the ministry said, “The Turkish Foreign Ministry summoned the Norwegian ambassador and presented him with a protest against the backdrop of an event that will be held soon, in which the Qur’an will be burned.”
This comes after the incident of the right-wing Danish politician, Rasmus Paludan, burning a copy of the Qur’an, during a demonstration in front of the Turkish embassy in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, after he obtained preliminary approval from the Swedish authorities to carry out this act.
Against this background, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan commented that Sweden should not wait for support from Turkey for its request to join NATO, in the aftermath of this matter.
Earlier, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said that negotiations between Finland and Sweden with Turkey regarding NATO membership need to pause.
It is worth noting that the process of joining a new member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization “NATO” requires the unanimous approval of the constituent members of the bloc, and Turkey is considered one of the founding countries in the alliance.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar decided, weeks ago, to cancel the visit of his Swedish counterpart, Pal Johnson, to Ankara, after it was scheduled for January 27.
According to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, the visit was canceled because Stockholm allowed protests against Turkey. Akar considered, “At this stage, Johnson’s visit to Turkey has become meaningless, so we canceled the visit.”