Scandalous words about Turkey from the Swedish minister

Following Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Finland and Sweden took steps to join NATO, which caused great tension on the Ankara-Stockholm line. Ahead of a critical visit by Sweden’s new prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, who is expected to travel to Turkey this week, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström, one of the most trusted names in his cabinet, made a startling statement. .

Billström, who is in the new cabinet, spoke to Expressen, one of the country’s most widely read newspapers. Stating that the current government is in a much more advantageous position than the previous Swedish government in terms of agreement with Turkey, Billström said: “The current government has not reached any agreement within parliament like the previous government did. This allows talks to be negotiated more directly,” he said.

The minister opened the doors of his office to the Swedish media.

Billström said that the most important item on the agenda was to become a member of NATO and expressed his belief that the talks would be positive. Billström also criticized Turkey in the interview.

When the reporter asked him, “How did you come to the conclusion that it is correct to call Turkey a democracy?” he replied, “Free elections are held in Turkey. There is an elected government. And therefore, Turkey meets the criteria for democracy. But on the other hand, there is a democracy with serious problems, and this issue is monitored and discussed by human rights organizations.

Billström said that he has a collection of hats and that he buys hats from the countries he visits, and so far he has 25 hats in his collection. Billström said: “I have two fez in my collection. One of them is from Turkey and the other one is from Egypt,” he said. Asked by the Swedish reporter, “Will you wear a fez when you go to Ankara?” he replied, “You know, the fez was available during the Ottoman Empire, but I think Atatürk banned it when he took office. He thought that it was not suitable for the modern Turkey that he wanted to create.”

Stating that he doesn’t wear the hats from his collection, Billström said: “I don’t always wear these hats. I collect these hats so that they are generally talked about and attract attention.”