Erdogan issues a NATO warning to Sweden following a Quran burning rally.

According to the Turkish president, Sweden shouldn't count on Ankara's backing for its application to join the military alliance. Following the burning of the Quran outside of Ankara's embassy in Stockholm during a protest, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Sweden that it should not expect his support to join NATO In his first official response to the act by a far-right politician during a protest over the weekend that was permitted by the Swedish police, Erdogan said on Monday that those who permit such blasphemy in front of our embassy (in Stockholm) "can no longer expect our support for their membership in NATO." Only Turkey and Hungary have not accepted the historic decision by the Nordic neighbors to violate their long-standing military non-alignment in reaction to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, has pledged that the two bids will be approved by his parliament next month. However, Erdogan has remained steadfast as he works to energize his nationalist electoral base ahead of a closely contested election. He referred to the Quran burning as an assault on the 85 million Turkish citizens and warned them that they would not have any assistance from the United States for joining NATO if they did not respect the religious views of the Republic of Turkey or Muslims. The words made by Erdogan were met with tremendous caution in Sweden. I am unable to respond to the statement at this time. Tobias Billstrom, Sweden's foreign minister, told the TT News Agency, "First, I want to understand exactly what was said. Rasmus Paludan, the head of the Danish far-right political group Hard Line, burned the Quran. Paludan, who is also a citizen of Sweden, has burned the Quran on a number of previous protests. Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Kuwait were among the Arab nations to condemn the incident. While vehemently denouncing Paludan's acts, Swedish politicians defended their nation's expansive understanding of free speech. Ulf Kristersson, Sweden's prime minister, tweeted on Saturday, "I want to express my condolences for all Muslims who are outraged by what has transpired in Stockholm today. Erdogan has already laid out a number of stringent requirements, one of which is that Sweden extradite dozens of individuals, most of whom are Kurds, who Ankara either accuses of "terrorism" or of taking part in a botched 2016 attempt. A rush of visits by top ministers to Ankara suggested that Sweden's courting of Turkey was progressing. A constitutional modification passed by Stockholm will allow for the passage of the stricter anti-terror regulations that Ankara has wanted. However, things took a negative turn earlier this month when a tiny Kurdish group erected an effigy of Erdogan in front of Stockholm's city hall. The invitation for the Swedish parliament speaker to visit Ankara was withdrawn, and Turkey summoned the Swedish ambassador. Similar criticism was directed towards the Swedish police's choice to permit Paludan's protests.