Stockholm

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has strongly condemned the burning of the Muslim holy book the Quran in Sweden on June 28, further clouding the Nordic nation's chances of quickly joining NATO.

"We will not bow to the politics of provocation and threat. We will show our opposition against Islamophobia," Erdoğan said in a video message to celebrate Eid al-Adha of his party's members. 

Elton John gave the final concert at Britain's legendary Glastonbury Festival on June 25, bringing down the curtain on the annual spectacular with what could be his final U.K. performance.

"I never thought I'd ever play Glastonbury," he told the crowd.

The iconic Glastonbury Festival opened its doors on June 21, with a torrential downpour threatening to turn the famous site into a mudbath for the 200,000 music fans set to descend on a farm in southwest England to see acts including Arctic Monkeys, Guns N'Roses and Elton John.

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Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler has emphasized the importance of Sweden fulfilling its commitments in order to achieve NATO membership, citing Finland's expeditious accession process as an example that Sweden could follow a similar path.

Two women were detained in Stockholm after they threw "some kind of paint" at a painting by French artist Claude Monet and then glued themselves to the frame, Sweden's National Museum said Wednesday.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned Switzerland's ambassador in Ankara Jean Daniel Ruch on June 15 over a demonstration in Zurich against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, including burning of his effigy.

A group of demonstrators reported to be PKK supporters hanged an effigy of Erdoğan and unfurled banners reading "Kill Erdoğan" during a rally in the Swiss capital.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has made clear once again that NATO-aspirant Sweden has to take concrete steps to join the alliance and stop the activities of the terrorists in the streets of Stockholm, underlining that the Nordic country will unlikely be admitted to NATO at the alliance's key summit in Vilnius in July.

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With around a month left for NATO critical leaders' summit scheduled to take place in Vilnius, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has spoken over the phone with his Swedish and American counterparts separately to reiterate that Türkiye expects Sweden to take concrete steps in line with the trilateral agreement if it wants to join the alliance.

Now is the time for NATO members to finalize Sweden's accession to the alliance, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to Sweden and other Scandinavian countries yesterday, quoted by Reuters.

Bulgaria's Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov has urged India to use its influence on Russia on the need to end the war against Ukraine, the ministry said. Kondov had a conversation with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Stockholm, where the European Union - Indo-Pacific region ministerial forum was held yesterday.