Turkish government

Türkiye will not approve Sweden's bid to join NATO as long as it continues to permit those who burn the Quran, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said, repeating Ankara's favorable position for Finland's application to the alliance.

Türkiye will choose another way if the Congress of the United States imposes conditions for sale of F-16 fighter jets demanded by Türkiye, Presidential Spokesperson İbrahim Kalın said on Jan. 31.

Turkey's president has suggested his country might approve Finland's application for NATO membership before taking any action on Sweden's, while the Turkish government issued a travel warning for European countries due to anti-Turkish demonstrations and what it described as Islamophobia.

The European Union is planning to hold a special event dedicated to the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Istanbul, a senior EU official has said.

Türkiye's top religious official will send letters to many countries around the world over Sweden's permission for a planned burning of the Quran, Islam's holy book, near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

Türkiye has strongly slammed Sweden for allowing anti-Islam and anti-Türkiye protests near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm and has canceled Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson's next week visit to Türkiye during which the Scandinavian country's NATO application was planned to be discussed.

Turkey and the United States will aim to smooth out a series of disagreements between the NATO allies when the Turkish foreign minister visits Washington this week. But expectations that outstanding issues can be resolved are low.

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has reiterated Ankara's expectation over the smooth supply of 40 new F-16s and 79 modernization kits for the existing fleets from the United States, saying that the matter waits for the approval of Congress.

The Turkish government has come under fire from Human Rights Watch (HRW) for aggressively repressing dissent and political opponents, imposing censorship and imprisoning people in the runup to the presidential elections.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg expressed confidence Tuesday that Finland and Sweden will join the military alliance, just days after the government in Stockholm said it had done all it could to satisfy Turkey's reservations about its membership.