Turkey: Sweden complicit in hate crime, NATO talks pointless

Turkey's foreign minister on Thursday accused Sweden of being complicit in a "hate and racist crime" for failing to prevent weekend protests in Stockholm by an anti-Islam and pro-Kurdish groups.

Mevlut Cavusoglu also confirmed that a key meeting in Brussels to discuss Sweden and Finland's NATO membership has been postponed, saying such a meeting would have been "meaningless" in the wake of the protests.

Turkey has been infuriated by a Quran-burning protest by anti-Islam activist Rasmus Paludan on Saturday and has criticized Swedish authorities for allowing the demonstration to take place outside the Turkish Embassy. Turkey's president this week cast serious doubt on NATO's expansion, warning Sweden not to expect support for its membership bid in the military alliance.

"The Swedish government has taken part in this vile action by allowing it to take place,"...