The warning for: May affect the NATO application

 

Demonstration

The police before the demonstrations: May affect the NATO application  

Of:  

Anna Sjögren,  

Christopher Nilsson  

Published: Less than 40 min ago  

Updated: Less than 20 min ago  

NEWS  

Koran burning near the Turkish embassy, a pro-Turkish demonstration and a Kurdish protest against the Swedish NATO application.  

In connection with Saturday's demonstrations, the police have planned a larger operation.  

According to Aftonbladet's information, internal information has been released where the police are reminded of the importance of these being handled "very correctly" - as this could affect Sweden's relationship with Turkey.  

Three different demonstrations with connections to Turkey  and the Swedish NATO application are being held in central Stockholm on Saturday.  

The police will be on site to guard them and parts of the inner city will be monitored with drones. 

Rasmus Paludan about to burn the Koran at the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. Photo: Andreas Bardell  

In internal documents that Aftonbladet has seen, today's demonstrations are described as "very important that the police handle them in a correct way". 

"The outcome could affect Sweden's relationship with Turkey and the handling of Sweden's application to NATO," they write.  

Stockholm police spokesperson Ola Österling tells Aftonbladet that he is not aware of the information. According to him, the police's work is not affected by Sweden's relationship with Turkey and the Swedish NATO application. 

- Not at all. We do not take a position on which political issues it concerns or whether it is sensitive or not. We must always behave correctly, he says.  

Burned the Koran  

The Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan has been given permission to hold a public gathering near the Turkish embassy in the Diplomatic City at 1 p.m. 

Outside the embassy, a pro-Turkish organization has received permission for a demonstration in support of Turkey and President Erdogan.  

At 2 p.m. it had so far been very calm, reports Aftonbladet's reporter Erica Fält from the scene. 

Rasmus Paludan had then criticized NATO, Turkey and Erdogan.  He has painted and displayed a Muhammad caricature, and also set fire to a Koran.  

- The police have blocked off an area he can stand within. The police are on the spot with large resources and I haven't heard a sound from the pro-Turkish demonstration that is held some distance away, says Erica Fält. 

I interna handlingar som Aftonbladet tagit del av beskrivs dagens demonstrationer som ”mycket viktiga att polisen hanterar på ett korrekt sätt”.

”Utfallet skulle kunna påverka Sveriges relation till Turkiet och handläggningen av Sveriges ansökan till Nato”, skriver man.

Stockholmspolisens presstalesperson Ola Österling säger till Aftonbladet att han inte känner till uppgifterna. Enligt honom påverkas polisens arbete inte av Sveriges relation till Turkiet och den svenska Natoansökan.

– Inte alls. Vi tar inte ställning till vilka politiska frågor det rör eller om det är känsligt eller inte. Vi ska alltid uppträda korrekt, säger han.

The lighter ready in Rasmus Paludan's hand. Photo: Andreas Bardell  

Swedish visit to Turkey is stopped  

At Norra Bantorget, a demonstration against Sweden's NATO application is held by the organization Kurdish Democratic Community Centre. The Rojava Committee, the group that was behind the action when an Erdogan doll was hung on the city hall, is participating there.  

The tone from the Turkish side has been high before Saturday's demonstrations. On Saturday morning, the Turkish government announced that Pål Jonson's planned visit to Ankara next week will be stopped due to Rasmus Paludan's Koran burning.  

According to Pål Jonson, the decision was made jointly on Friday.  

"Yesterday I had a meeting with my Turkish colleague Hulusi Akar at the US military airbase Ramstein, Germany. We then came to the conclusion of moving the planned meeting in Ankara to later," he writes on Twitter, where he also underlined that relations with Turkey are "very important." 

Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu tells Reuters that he hopes Sweden takes measures to prevent the burning of the Koran.