Why America and Turkey face to face with Sweden amid Quran controversy?

Sweden Turkey: There is a stir everywhere against the incident of burning of Quran in Sweden. Many countries are speaking against it. The incident has also been declared wrong by the US Foreign Ministry. At the same time, many Islamic countries including Türkiye are reacting in strong words. Meanwhile, discussions have also started regarding Sweden's NATO membership. Turkey is openly opposing it while US President Joe Biden has called the Prime Minister of Sweden to the White House to express his support on the issue.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Christerson is reaching the White House on Wednesday, where the two leaders are to meet. Prior to this meeting, a statement issued by the White House said that Biden and Prime Minister Ulf Christerson would review the growing security cooperation between the two countries. It has also been said in the statement of the White House that he wants to see Sweden joining NATO as soon as possible.

When Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022, there was a stir in the whole world after that. Many countries became worried about their security. In this episode, Sweden and Finland, moving ahead of their principles, should take steps forward for NATO membership. But Türkiye is becoming an obstacle in this.

Turkey has been continuously alleging that Sweden gives shelter to terrorist organizations. The Kurdish groups who attempted a coup in Turkey in 2016 are accused by Erdogan of getting asylum in Sweden. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently openly said that Turkey cannot be friends with countries that promote or give place to terrorism.

Along with this, Turkey is also very angry with the recent incident of burning of Quran in Sweden on the occasion of Bakrid. Turkey has considered this incident as a hate crime against Muslims and has held Sweden responsible for this whole incident. Turkey says that Sweden is supporting those who are performing anti-Islamic demonstrations and those who are a challenge to Turkey's security.

Please tell that Türkiye is a major member of NATO. A country is included in NATO only when the consent of all its member countries is obtained. Therefore, Turkey's approval is necessary for Sweden to join this group. But Türkiye is continuously postponing the final approval regarding Sweden. At present, Turkey and Hungary are the two countries that have not supported Sweden's entry into NATO. The NATO summit is going to be held on July 11-12.

Turkey may be in opposition, but on the other hand America is accepting Sweden with an open mind. America had given a strong reaction to the Quran burning incident, but it is fully ready to bring Sweden into NATO. America and Turkey are seen face to face on the issue of Sweden.