Turkey condemns Sweden protests, cancels ministers' meeting

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Turkey on Saturday canceled a planned visit by Sweden’s defense minister in response to anti-Turkish protests that increased tension between the two countries as Sweden seeks Turkey's approval to join NATO.

A far-right activist from Denmark received permission from police to stage a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm where he burned the Quran, Islam’s holy book. A separate pro-Kurdish demonstration was planned later Saturday in the Swedish capital.

In response, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the scheduled Jan. 27 visit by his Swedish counterpart Pål Jonson no longer held “any importance or point,” because Sweden continued to allow “disgusting” demonstrations against Turkey.

Jonson tweeted that he had met Akar on Friday in Ramstein, Germany, where they “agreed to postpone” the meeting in Ankara.

“Relations with Turkey are very important for Sweden and we look forward to continuing the dialogue on common security and defense issues at a later date,” he wrote.

The bid by historically nonaligned Sweden and Finland to join NATO in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been held up by Ankara, which has accused Sweden in particular of being soft on Kurdish militants and other groups that Turkey considers security threats.

The Swedish government's efforts to improve relations with Turkey have been complicated by demonstrations by pro-Kurdish activists, which have infuriated Turkey's government. On Saturday, anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan added to the tensions by staging a Quran-burning protest outside the Turkish Embassy.

Surrounded by police, Paludan carried out his protest while making disparaging remarks about immigrants and Islam. About 100 people gathered nearby for a peaceful counterdemonstration.

In a separate...