Pal Jonson

Swedish lawmakers vote Tuesday on a controversial defense deal with the United States, which critics fear could lead to the deployment of nuclear weapons and permanent U.S. bases on Swedish soil.

The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) is a major step for a country that in March ended two centuries of neutrality to join NATO.

Sweden on Wednesday pledged military aid of 13.3 billion kronor ($1.25 billion) to Ukraine, as Kiev struggles with multiple delays of vital Western military support in the third year of war with Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday urged Ukraine's allies not to be "cowards" in supporting the country to fight off the Russian invasion.

He added that he "fully stood behind" controversial remarks made last week not ruling out the deployment of Western troops to Ukraine, which sent a shockwave around Europe.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned Denmark's Ambassador to Türkiye Danny Annan after Danish authorities permitted a provocative protest "involving an attack against the holy book of Quran" on Jan. 27, Foreign Ministry sources have said.

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) has harshly slammed Swedish authorities for allowing and just watching the burning of Quran by an ultra-right wing politician in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

Türkiye cannot stay silent against the anti-İslam and anti-Türkiye protests that were held in Stockholm over the weekend, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar has said, calling on Sweden and Finland to fully fulfill the commitments they made in the trilateral agreement for them to join NATO.

Türkiye's top religious official will send letters to many countries around the world over Sweden's permission for a planned burning of the Quran, Islam's holy book, near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

Türkiye has strongly slammed Sweden for allowing anti-Islam and anti-Türkiye protests near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm and has canceled Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson's next week visit to Türkiye during which the Scandinavian country's NATO application was planned to be discussed.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said on Saturday that a planned visit by his Swedish counterpart to Ankara has been cancelled after Swedish authorities granted permission for protests in Stockholm.

"At this point, the visit of Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson to Turkey on January 27 has become meaningless. So we cancelled the visit," Akar said.

Türkiye on Jan. 20 summoned the Swedish ambassador to Ankara over Sweden's permission for a planned burning of the Quran, Islam's holy book, near the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm.

Turkish foreign ministry officials told the Swedish ambassador, "we condemn this provocative action which is clearly a hate crime - in strongest terms."