UPDATE -Turkish officials condemn Sweden for allowing act against Turkish president near embassy in Stockholm

UPDATES WITH TURKISH VICE PRESIDENT’S REMARKS

By Gozde Bayar

ANKARA (AA) – Senior Turkish officials on Saturday condemned Sweden for allowing an act targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan near the country’s embassy in Stockholm.

"We condemn the ugly attack on our President near our Embassy in Stockholm,” Akif Cagatay Kilic, Erdogan's chief adviser, said on X.

All kinds of crimes and insults have become free under the guise of freedom in Sweden, where hate crimes and terrorist propaganda have become commonplace, Kilic added.

Urging the Swedish authorities to end this "reckless" situation and take the necessary measures, he said that their indifferent attitude would have no other benefit than becoming a “puppet in the hands of terrorist organizations”.

Separately, AK Party spokesperson Omer Celik said targeting President Erdogan is also a violation of Turkish Republic values.

"We condemn the ugly attack targeting our President near our Embassy in Stockholm. Swedish authorities are responsible for these attacks,” Celik said on X.

Hate crimes and terrorist propaganda cannot be allowed to threaten democratic values, he said, urging Swedish authorities to stop hate crimes and terrorist propaganda.

“We will continue to fight determinedly against all attacks targeting our President and the values of the Turkish Republic. Those who carry out these attacks, as well as those who protect them, are part of the same ugliness. Fighting this mentality is necessary to protect democratic values,” he added.

Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz also condemned the ugly action directed at the Turkish president.

"It is clear that the ultimate purpose behind these non-stop attacks and provocation attempts is against our country, our nation and the entire Islamic world,” Yilmaz said on X.

He stressed that these attacks on Turkish Republic values cannot be justified in the name of free expression or legitimized under the guise of democracy.

Türkiye expects Sweden to not allow such provocative actions and to not tolerate such initiatives, he said, urging the country to take immediate legal action against the perpetrators.

“We will never compromise on our determined fight and righteous stance against all attacks and provocation attempts targeting our President, our country, our nation and our religious values,” he added.

The provocative act was directed at Erdogan in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

A so-called effigy of the Turkish president was set on fire in the provocative act, which took place under police protection.

A provocateur who expressed her opposition to Sweden's accession to NATO also spoke out against the Turkish president.

Since the Nordic country announced its intention to join NATO, various provocative acts have been carried out in the country, targeting Türkiye, the Turkish flag, Erdogan, and the Muslim holy book Quran.

Sweden applied for NATO membership in February 2022, shortly after Russia launched a war in Ukraine. Türkiye, which, like all NATO members, must approve Sweden's membership bid, has stated that in order to get membership, Stockholm must crack down on terrorists and Islamophobic provocations on its soil.

Sweden has argued for membership by citing a new anti-terrorist law that goes into effect on June 1, but Turkish officials say the law must be implemented, and the Turkish parliament will have the final say this fall.