Turkey maintains that there is no evidence of a threat against foreign citizens

Its state news agency Turkey Anadolu, citing a statement from the police in Istanbul, reported that 15 suspects “had received instructions to target consulates of Sweden and her Netherlands, as well as Christian and Jewish places of worship”. Last week, several European consulates in Istanbul closed citing “security reasons” and several Western countries warned their citizens of the high risk of attacks against diplomatic missions and non-Muslim areas of worship in Turkey, following a series of far-right Koran-burning protest incidents in Europe in the preceding weeks.

In more detail, Turkey’s state news agency “Anatolu”, citing a statement from the police in Istanbul, reported that 15 suspects “they had received instructions for actions to target Swedish and Dutch consulates, as well as Christian and Jewish places of worship.” Despite the fact that the suspects’ links to the jihadist organization were confirmed, no specific threats were detected against foreign citizens, according to the same announcement.

THE Anchor summoned nine ambassadors criticizing the coordinated shutdown of European consulates, and Turkish officials later said Western countries had not provided information to substantiate their claims about the security threat. Turkey has suspended negotiations on the accession of Sweden and Finland to the NATOfollowing a protest in Stockholm during which a copy of the Muslim holy book of the Koran was burned.

The Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu repeated yesterday the irritation of his country for what Ankara characterizes as Sweden’s inaction regarding organizations that Turkey accuses of terrorist activity.

Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed one agreement in June 2022 with the aim of overcoming the Ankara’s objections on the two countries’ NATO membership, with the two Nordic countries pledging to adopt a tougher stance especially against local members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).