Turkey summoned Swedenʼs ambassador for satirizing Erdogan

Author:
Kostia Andreikovets
Date:

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has summoned Swedish Ambassador Staffan Gerström over a satirical Swedish TV show Svenska Nyheter ("Swedish News") that criticized and poked fun at Turkish leader Recep Erdogan.

Anadolu and a number of Swedish mass media write about it.

The issue for October 4 was the reason for the call. In it, Kurdish comedian Kadir Meral mocked "Erdoganʼs veto" on Swedenʼs entry into NATO, called him a fool, and also criticized the Swedish authorities for "creeping in front of Erdogan." The issue itself was called "Kurdish News".

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs "brought to the attention of the ambassador of Sweden the inadmissibility of attacks against President Erdogan and Turkey in general." Ankara stressed that such actions have nothing to do with freedom of speech.

At the same time, the Turkish state media was less restrained in addressing Svenska Nyheter and Sweden itself. The pro-government newspaper Sabah called the telecast "a disgrace to Swedish television" and suggested the country had no place in NATO because it supported "terrorists".