ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed Wednesday that Turkey will not allow Sweden to join the NATO military alliance as long as it allows protests that desecrate Islam’s holy book. Turkey, which has been waiting to approve Sweden and Finland’s membership of the Western military alliance, has been angered by a series of demonstrations in Stockholm by activists who have burned Korans outside the Turkish embassy and hanged a picture of Erdogan. It has indefinitely postponed a key meeting in Brussels that would have discussed the two Nordic countries’ entry into NATO. “Sweden, don’t even bother! As long as you allow my holy book, the Koran, to be burned and torn, and you do it together with your security forces, we will not say ‘yes’ to your entry into NATO,” Erdogan said in a speech at his sentencing. party lawmakers.Swedish government officials have distanced themselves from the protests, including by a far-right anti-Islam activist who burned copies of the Koran in Stockholm and Copenhagen, Denmark, while stressing that the demonstrations are protected by freedom of speech. On Tuesday, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson condemned the activists who staged the demonstrations as “useful idiots” for foreign powers seeking to harm the Scandinavian country as it seeks to join NATO. “We have seen how foreign actors, even state actors. , have used these demonstrations to inflame the situation in a way that is directly harmful to Swedish security,” Kristersson told reporters in Stockholm without naming any countries. Sweden and neighboring Finland abandoned Dec. Dec. non-alignment and applied to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. All NATO members except Turkey and Hungary have ratified their accession, but unanimity is required. Earlier on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara has fewer problems with Finland becoming a member of NATO than with neighboring Sweden, but he stressed that it was up to the military alliance to decide whether to accept just one country or the Nordic duo together – something both countries are committed to. decide to handle the membership processes of the Nordic neighbors separately, “(Turkey) will then of course reconsider (ratify) Finland’s with membership separately and more beneficial I can say,” Cavusoglu said during a joint press conference with his Estonian counterpart in Tallinn. He did not give a time frame. Erdogan also reiterated that Turkey’s view of Finland’s membership was “positive”. “But it’s not positive with Sweden, that should be known,” Erdogan said.___Tanner reported from Helsinki.