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 Sweden |  Turkey |
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| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of Sweden,Ankara | Embassy of Turkey,Stockholm |
Swedish–Turkish relations are foreign relations betweenSweden andTurkey. Both countries are full members of theCouncil of Europe,NATO, theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and theUnion for the Mediterranean.
Sweden has an embassy inAnkara and a consulate–general inIstanbul. Turkey has an embassy inStockholm.Also Sweden is anEUmember and Turkey is anEUcandidate. Turkey did not supportSweden's accession to NATO until January 2024, but accepted its participation.
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At the beginning of the 18th century, the two countries were allied against the Tsardom of Russia during theGreat Northern War. Swedish KingCharles XII, after his defeat in theBattle of Poltava, took refuge in theOttoman Empire in the city ofBender. Charles was welcomed by Ottomans and corresponded withGülnuş Sultan, the mother of SultanAhmed III, who took an interest in his cause. His expenses were covered by theOttoman State budget, as part of the fixed assets (Demirbaş in Turkish), hence his nicknameDemirbaş Şarl (Fixed Asset Charles) in Turkey.[a]
Sweden has had diplomatic relations with Turkey since the 1730s.[2] Sweden has been present inIstanbul at the same place as today since 1757. Sweden opened an embassy inAnkara in October 1934.[3]
In October 1934, Crown PrinceGustaf Adolf,Louise and PrincessIngrid visited Turkey. On 2 October they arrived inIstanbul where PresidentMustafa Kemal Atatürk's salon car was waiting. The journey continued toAnkara where they were received by Atatürk, Foreign MinisterTevfik Rüştü Aras, members of the government and administration. The visit to Ankara lasted between 3 and 5 October. On 5 October a two-day visit toBursa was made. The stay in Turkey ended with a four-day stay incognito in Istanbul, during which several receptions were held at the Swedish legation. On 10 October, the royal travelers continued with the Svenska Orient Linien's motor shipVasaland, which arrived inİzmir on the 12 October. From here, the departure took place on 15 October with the president's own train and on the 17 October arrival inAleppo.[4]
The Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul (SFII) was founded in 1962 and works to promote Swedish and Nordic research in and around Turkey, the Far East and Central Asia, primarily in the humanities and social sciences.[2]Business Sweden has been active in Turkey since 1991 with offices in Istanbul.[5]
When Sweden took over the rotating presidency of thePresidency of the Council of the European Union in 2009, the then Swedish prime ministerFredrik Reinfeldt announced his support of Turkey'sEuropean Union membership.[6] Sweden'sGreen Party has criticized France and Germany's opposition to Turkey's membership.[7][8] Sweden stopped selling weapons to Turkey in 2019 due toTurkey's military operation in Syria.[9]In September 2022, Sweden lifted its embargo on weapons exports to Turkey.[10]
In October 2021, in the wake of the appeal for the release of Turkish activistOsman Kavala signed by 10 western countries, Turkish presidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan ordered his foreign minister to declare the Swedish ambassadorpersona non grata, alongside the other 9 ambassadors.[11] However, the ambassadors did not receive any formal notice to leave the country and Erdoğan eventually stepped back.[12]
In 2020, Former Swedish Foreign MinisterAnn Linde called for Turkey to withdraw from Syria as part of her visit to Turkey, and Turkish Foreign MinisterMevlüt Çavuşoğlu reacted harshly to his Swedish counterpart.[13]
While Turkey became a member ofNATO in 1952, Sweden since 2024 has been a member of NATO.
In 2022, Turkey opposed Sweden and Finland's bid to joinNATO, on the alleged grounds that the countries "host terrorist organisations which act against Turkey", including thePKK,PYD,YPG andGülen movement. While the PKK is recognised as a terrorist organisation in both Sweden and Turkey, the Gülen movement is not recognised as a terrorist organisation in Sweden.[14] In May 2022, Turkey quickly blocked the Swedish NATO membership application from being processed at an accelerated pace.[15] In May 2022, Turkey vetoed Sweden's NATO membership.[16] In May 2022, Swedish prime ministerMagdalena Andersson, after a phone call with Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan, told Swedish state televisionSVT that they were ready for dialogue with Turkey on Sweden's NATO membership and they always condemned terrorism.[17]On 28 June, during aNATO summit in Madrid, Turkey agreed to support the membership bids of Finland and Sweden.[18][19] The Turkish government has since requested the extradition of members of the Gülen movement and the PKK from Finland and Sweden;[20] that the countries stop supporting the Gülen movement, the PKK,[21] and terrorism;[22] and that Finland and Sweden should address Turkish security concerns.[23]Turkey demanded that Sweden end its support to theGülen movement and thePKK.[24] Turkey asked Sweden to stop and end theKurdish demonstrations.[21] Tensions between Sweden and Turkey were sharply heightened following protests against Turkey in Stockholm. Turkey summoned Sweden's ambassador to answer for a video posted by the Swedish Solidarity Committee for Rojava that depicted an Erdoğan effigy swinging by his legs from a rope. The group compared Erdoğan toBenito Mussolini, who washung upside down after his death.[25] On the same day,President of the Turkish Grand National AssemblyMustafa Şentop cancelled theSwedish Parliament SpeakerAndreas Norlén's visit to Turkey.[26] On 21 January 2023, leader of the far-right Danish political partyStram Kurs,Rasmus Paludan was permitted to burn aQuran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.[27] Seebelow for further details.
On 23 January 2024, theTurkish Parliament voted 287-55 in favour of Swedish membership.[28]On 25 January 2024, Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan signed and approved the proposal containing Sweden's accession protocol.[29]
The extensivebombings andshootings in Sweden, carried out by criminal organisations, has spread to Turkey, and several Swedish criminals were sentenced in Turkey in 2023.[30] However, Turkey refuses to capture and extradite the internationally wanted Swedish criminalRawa Majid, since he bought a Turkish citizenship through theGolden Passport program, in exchange for investments.[31][32] The Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden has warned Turkey and threatened to suspend Sweden's financial aid to Turkey if Majid is not extradited, but later retracted her statement.[33] Swedish police shared Intelligence about Rajiw Majid with Turkish police, at highest-level, but the intelligence was leaked to criminals in 2022, according to Swedish police.[34]
According to Swedish paperDagens Nyheter in 2017, nine mosques in Sweden have imams sent and paid for by the TurkishDirectorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet). Along with their religious duties, the imams are also tasked with reporting on critics of the Turkish government.[dubious –discuss] According toDagens Nyheter, propaganda for presidentErdoğan is openly presented in the mosques.[35]
On 12 June 2008, theRiksdag refused to refer to theArmenian Genocide as actualgenocide.[36] However, on 11 March 2010, the Riksdag eventually voted for a resolutionrecognizing theArmenian genocide.[37]
There was a majority of one vote, with a total of 131 in favour, 130 against, and 88 absent.[38][39][40] Turkey promptly recalled its ambassador to Sweden and cancelled talks that were intended to happen between the two countries on March 17, 2010.[41][42]
Turkish Prime MinisterRecep Tayyip Erdoğan responded by issuing a statement saying "We strongly condemn this resolution, which is made for political calculations. It does not correspond to the close friendship of our two nations".[42] Turkey's ambassador to SwedenZergun Koruturk said onAktuellt that there would be "drastic effects" of a long-term nature on relations between the two countries, saying "I am very disappointed. Unfortunately, parliamentarians were thinking that they were rather historians than parliamentarians, and it's very, very unfortunate".[40] Swedish Foreign MinisterCarl Bildt blogged fromCopenhagen that he "regretted" the outcome of the vote.[39]
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In January 2023, a consultant of the nationalistSweden Democrat party applied for a police permission to organize a demonstration outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, with the alleged intent to burn theTurkish flag, in an attempt to sabotage the Swedish NATO application and to protest against Erdogan. However, during the demonstration on the 21 of January,Rasmus Paludan, a Danish-Swedish right-wing politician, burned aQuran instead.[43] The Swedish Police did not deny the permit as there is nolaw against blasphemy in Sweden, and no explicit prohibition againstburning the flag of any country, but a strong protection offreedom of speech in the constitution. During the2022 Sweden riots, the police only occasionally denied Quran burnings that posed severe risk of disorderly conduct, when the applications were late.[44] Muslims have interpreted theQuran desecrations in Europe as motived byislamophobia (i.e. fear and hate) rather than as taking a stand for free speech. Laws againstincitement to ethnic hatred, includinganti-Semitism andhate crimes withIslamophobic motive, do exist in Sweden. However, prosecutors believe that burning aholy book would not be considered illegal and have therefore not tested the matter in court.[45]
The Swedish government were not allowed to decide on the demonstration, as they are forbidden to tell the police or other authorities/government agencies how to interpret the law and act in a specific case due to the constitutional prohibition ofministerial rule in Sweden.[46] After the incident, the Swedish prime minister apologized and expressed his sympathies toMuslims worldwide.[47][48] Despite the apology, Turkish President Erdogan said that Sweden can rely on "terrorists" and "extremists" to protect it instead of a strong NATO ally who happens to be proud and defensive of its Islamic values.[citation needed] The Sweden Democrat party continued to hire the consultant despite his initiative.[49]
Following the incident,Turkish Minister of National DefenseHulusi Akar canceled the visit ofSwedish defense ministerPål Jonson to Ankara.[50] Following the Quran burning incident, theYeni Akit newspaper called for a boycott of Swedish companies such asH&M andIKEA.[51]
Permission for another Quran burning outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm was denied on 8 February 2023, by the Swedish police in dialogue with theSwedish Security Service.[52][53]
Turkish Foreign MinisterMevlüt Çavuşoğlu compared Sweden toNazi Germany, saying that: "The Nazis started byburning books, thenthey attacked religious gathering places, and thenthey gathered people in camps and burned them to achieve their ultimate goals. That's how things like this start."[54]
However, Swedish police granted permission for a Quran-burning protest outside a mosque on the Muslim holiday ofFeast of Sacrifice, coinciding with June 28. The go ahead came two weeks after aSwedish appeals court rejected the police's decision to deny permits for two demonstrations in Stockholm which were to include Quran burnings. Turkey politicianOmer Celik considered "theSwedish Supreme Court's stance" as "protection of hate crimes".[55]
TheSwedish Foreign Ministry condemned the burning of a copy of the Quran, carried out by an Iraqi born man outside the Stockholm Central Mosque on the first day of the Muslim festival ofEid al Adha.[56]
In the meantime, Türkiye's newly sworn in Foreign MinisterHakan Fidan voiced concerns over the impact of the potential Swedish membership to NATO, in terms of both security and strategic implications, after the Nordic state's inability to stop attacks against the Quran, which can create further problems for the alliance.[57]
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said,"We will not say yes to (Sweden's) entry into NATO as long as you allow our holy book, the Quran, to be burned, torn apart, and to be done with (the approval of) your security personnel."[58]
Three days later, during the NATO2023 Vilnius summit, Erdogan promised to ensure ratification of Sweden's bid to join NATO, as soon as possible.[59]
TheUnited Nations General Assembly responded by adopting a resolution on 25 July 2023 which considered violence against holy books to be violations of international law.[60]
News came out that plainclothes police had attempted to silence a protester against the burning of the Quran in the Swedish capital, Stockholm. Police intervened as Kais Tunisia was loudly responding to Iraqi-born extremist Salwan Momika's words while burning the Muslim holy book in front of the Stockholm Mosque. The extremist was escorted away from the scene in an armoured police vehicle. Approximately 20 police vehicles of which 10 were armoured and 100 police officers escorted them.[61]
A meeting of the Turkish-Swedish Security Mechanism was held with the participation of senior officials from both countries in Türkiye's capital Ankara on 21 January 2025. Turkish Foreign MinisterHakan Fidan, Swedish Foreign MinisterMaria Malmer Stenergard, and Swedish Justice MinisterGunnar Strömmer attended the event. The meeting was meant to advance cooperation in counterterrorism efforts between the two countries.[62][63]
Sweden also has an honorary consulates inAlanya,Antalya,İzmir andMersin. Turkey also has an honorary consulates inMalmö.
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