Over 90 pc of Turkish oppose Sweden's NATO membership after quran burning: Reports

Ankara: Some 92.5% of Turkish citizens have spoken against Ankara's greenlighting of Sweden's membership in NATO following the controversial demonstration with the burning of the Quran in Stockholm, a survey conducted by Turkish news agency Anadolu showed on Tuesday.

IBNS • 24 Jan 2023, 05:50 pm

The poll was conducted via Twitter and surveyed 50,155 people. The results of the poll will be presented to the Swedish authorities, Anadolu said.

On May 18, three months after Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership, terminating decades of neutrality.

Their accession protocols have already been ratified by all NATO members except Hungary and Turkey.

On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Sweden should not expect Turkish support for its bid to join NATO as the country's far-right activists burned a copy of the Quran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm after receiving a permission from the authorities.

(With UNI inputs)