China News Service, February 3rd (Gan Tian) made harsh words and called ambassadors... Recently, the diplomatic disputes between Turkey and many European and American countries have escalated again.
Turkey, in anger, also turned on a "yellow light" for Sweden, which seeks to join NATO.
According to the analysis, at least until the end of the Turkish general election, Sweden's "accession" process may continue to stagnate.
Data map: On February 2, outside the German Consulate General in Istanbul, Turkey, an armored police car was guarding nearby.
Diplomatic dispute escalates! Turkey summons ambassadors from nine countries
On February 2 local time, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the ambassadors and representatives of the United States, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, France and Italy to Turkey, and issued a temporary Turkish travel warning or closed the consulates in Turkey to these countries. expressed concern.
Turkey's foreign ministry said the near-simultaneous actions taken by countries were insufficiently prudent and appropriate, and that such an approach would only encourage acts of terrorism.
Why did Turkey do this?
This also starts with the recent demonstrations against Turkey in Sweden and other countries.
On January 21, local time, a number of protests involving Turkey and Sweden's accession to NATO were held in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden.
During this period, the leader of a far-right political party publicly burned the "Koran" near the Turkish embassy, which triggered strong condemnation from the Turkish side.
Some 200 protesters rallied in front of the Swedish consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in response to the burning of the Koran.
Someone at the rally burned a Swedish flag.
After that, similar scenes appeared on the streets of the Netherlands and Denmark.
While some European countries condemned the incident, some Swedish officials claimed that the incident could not have been prevented because of freedom of expression.
Not only that, for "security reasons", Italy and the United States have issued warnings to their citizens, saying that the risk of attacks in Turkey has increased.
At the same time, Germany, France and the Netherlands also temporarily closed their embassies and consulates in Turkey.
Data map: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Sweden's "agreement" suspended?
The reaction of Western countries immediately aroused Turkey's anger.
In response, Turkey warned its citizens last week of "possible xenophobic and racist attacks" in the US and Europe.
Turkish Interior Minister Soylu slammed that the security warning from the West was to put pressure on Turkey.
He also condemned the closure of embassies and consulates by the above-mentioned countries as an attempt to interfere in the Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections that may be held in May.
"They are waging psychological warfare against Turkey," Soylu said. "They are trying to destabilize Turkey."
Meanwhile, Turkey sent a note to the Swedish ambassador to protest after Sweden approved a demonstration outside the Turkish embassy and canceled a planned visit by the Swedish defense minister.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even said that as long as Sweden allows the above-mentioned incidents to happen, it means that Ankara will not support Sweden's request to join NATO.
Erdogan said Turkey viewed Finland's bid to join NATO positively, but did not support Sweden's bid.
"Our stance towards Finland is positive, but not towards Sweden."
Sweden is currently applying, along with Finland, to join NATO.
According to the regulations, NATO must have the "unanimous consent" of its 30 member states before it can admit new members.
Turkey and Hungary have not officially ratified Sweden and Finland to join NATO.
Originally, Turkey had repeatedly opposed the two countries' joining NATO in a high-profile manner until a tripartite agreement was reached with it.
Finland and Sweden have agreed to make concessions to Turkey on issues including the PKK and an arms embargo.
Now, with the escalation of the conflict between Turkey and Sweden, the suspense of Sweden's "entry into the treaty" suddenly arises, while Finland is accused of having the opportunity to "fly solo".
According to Reuters, analysts expect Sweden's NATO membership to remain stalled at least until after Turkey's general election.
The "Guardian" pointed out that Ankara has suspended the negotiations between the two countries to join NATO as the diplomatic dispute fermented.
Hopes that the two countries were expected to be admitted to NATO membership at a NATO summit in Lithuania's capital Vilnius in July may be dashed.