Western countries who see security threats in Turkey 'would be made to pay': Erdogan

Istanbul: While police indicated there was no real threat to foreigners after detaining 15 ISIS suspects on Sunday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan warned that Western missions would be made to “pay” for issuing security warnings and briefly suspending consulates in Turkiye last week.

On Thursday, Ankara called the ambassadors of nine nations to discuss their actions in temporarily closing diplomatic offices and issuing security alerts.

The following day, Turkish officials claimed that Western countries, particularly Germany and the United States, had not exchanged material to support their assertions of a security danger.

Erdogan said during a meeting with teenagers that was pre-recorded and shown on Sunday, “The other day our foreign ministry convened all of them and provided the appropriate ultimatum, telling them “You will pay for this hard if you keep this up.”

Following a series of far-right protests in Europe in recent weeks that included numerous incidents of burning copies of the Muslim holy book, the Qur’an, several Western states issued warnings to their citizens about an increased risk of attacks on diplomatic missions and non-Muslim places of worship in Turkiye. These warnings came in addition to the closures.

Turkiye stopped talks this month for Sweden and Finland to join NATO as a result of a protest in Stockholm after a copy of the Qur’an was set on fire.

Erdogan stated, without going into further detail, that the Western countries were “playing for (more) time” and that the “necessary decisions” would be made during Monday’s cabinet meeting.

State media said that earlier on Sunday, police claimed they had detained 15 ISIS detainees accused of targeting consulates and non-Muslim sites of worship but had not discovered any real threats against foreigners.

The suspects “got orders for acts targeting consulates of Sweden and the Netherlands, as well as Christian and
Jewish sites of worship,” according to an Istanbul police statement reported by Anadolu Agency.

The terrorist group’s affiliation with the suspects was confirmed, but no specific threats against foreigners were discovered, according to the statement.

Turkiye’s dissatisfaction with what it claims to be Sweden’s passivity toward entities that Ankara accuses of terrorist involvement was reiterated by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Saturday. New members must be approved by all 30 NATO members.

In a June deal to address Ankara’s concerns about their NATO membership ambitions, Turkey, Sweden, and Finland pledged to take a stronger position, particularly against local PKK members.

The PKK is a banned organisation that started using armed force against the Turkish government in 1984.

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