Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the door in Sweden’s face once more Wednesday, saying that the Nordic country should not “bother” to attempt to persuade Ankara to support its bid to join NATO after the recent Quran burning by an ultra-right politician last month. He did, however, signal a more positive attitude toward Helsinki should it consider joining the military alliance without its neighbor. 

But Finland maintained Wednesday that it would continue to advance the membership process together with Sweden. A joint presidential and government committee on Finnish security and foreign policy said that the “fastest possible realization of both countries’ memberships” was in the best interest of Finland, Sweden and NATO. 

But Erdogan, whose tone has become more belligerent on both foreign and domestic policy as Turkey enters the final cycle before parliamentary and presidential elections on May 14, insisted that there was no easy ratification for Sweden. "We will not say yes to [Sweden’s] entry into NATO as long as you allow our holy book, the Quran, to be burned, torn apart, and to be done with [the approval of] your security personnel," he told the deputies of his Justice and Development Party (AKP). 

The Turkish president repeated that he was “more positive” toward the membership of  Finland, which recently jumped a major hurdle by removing its de facto arms embargo toward Turkey. In a move aimed to quell Ankara’s outrage at Quran burnings in Stockholm and The Hague, Finland announced Monday that it would not allow Kuran burning in the country, as it was against its existing laws on blasphemy.