Turkey issues travel warning to Europe following protests

Turkey strongly condemned far-right activist Rasmus Paludan’s burning of the Quran in Stockholm, which he repeated in Copenhagen Friday. Ankara additionally summoned the Dutch ambassador after one other far-right activist tore pages of the Quran within the Hague.

The Turkish authorities additionally stated there was a rise in anti-Turkish protests by “teams with hyperlinks to terror teams” — a reference to the Kurdistan Staff’ Celebration, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency towards Turkey. Professional-Kurdish teams have been demonstrating in Sweden, waving the flags of the PKK and its associates. The protests are a response to Sweden and Finland’s promise to stop the PKK’s actions of their international locations to be able to acquire Turkey’s approval for his or her NATO bids.

Following the protests, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Sweden to not count on assist for its membership bid for the navy alliance. Turkey additionally indefinitely postponed a key assembly in Brussels that may have mentioned Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership.

Earlier Saturday, earlier than Turkey had issued its journey warning, the Nordic international locations individually issued up to date journey pointers for Turkey. Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden urged their residents visiting Turkey to keep away from massive gatherings and to train warning.

The Swedish International Ministry stated in a message on its web site that Sweden’s embassy in Ankara stays closed to the general public and guests to the nation’s consulate common in Istanbul are “requested to train vigilance.”

“We need to make Swedes in Turkey conscious that additional manifestations might happen,” the Swedish ministry stated, referring to counter-protests that erupted in Turkey after final weekend’s occasions in Stockholm.