Erdogan says Sweden should not expect Turkey's support on NATO bid after anti-Islam protests

Sweden should not expect Turkey's support in its bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, days after a copy of

the Quran was burned in a protest in Stockholm. Sweden, along with Finland, applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine last February, but the countries need all 30

NATO members to ratify their requests in order to join. Hungary has said it would approve Sweden's bid early this year. Turkey has been less willing. FORMER SWEDISH

INTELLIGENCE OFFICER SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON FOR SPYING FOR RUSSIA "Sweden should not expect support from us for NATO," Erdogan said. "It is clear that those who

caused such a disgrace in front of our country's embassy can no longer expect any benevolence from us regarding their application." The Turkish president's statements

came after Rasmus Paludan, a far-right politician from a Danish party, burned a Quran in front of the Turkish Embassy this past weekend. And earlier this month, Kurdish protesters

in Sweden hung an effigy of Erdogan. The most recent protest was given prior approval by Swedish authorities, but the burning itself was not sanctioned, according to BBC

News. Many denounced the Quran burning as a hate crime, while others maintained it was an act of free speech.