The Swedish charge d’affaires in Turkey was “summoned” Saturday at the Foreign Ministry in Ankara to justify the use of “terrorist propaganda” for the benefit of the PKK during a demonstration in Sweden, reported a diplomatic source.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry confirmed on Sunday that a “meeting” had taken place in the Turkish capital, without further comment. Turkey accuses Stockholm, as well as Helsinki, of benevolence towards the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its allies whom it considers terrorist organizations and, for this reason, has set conditions for Sweden’s entry and Finland in NATO.
“After learning about the terrorist propaganda made by PKK/PYD/YPG supporters in Gothenburg, Sweden on July 21, the temporary charge d’affaires of the Swedish Embassy in Ankara was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our strong reaction (to him) has been conveyed,” the diplomatic source in Turkey said. In this context, Turkey requests that “the perpetrators of these acts be identified, that the necessary legal and judicial measures be taken and concrete measures” continued this source. The reaction of the Turkish ministry follows several demonstrations organized last week in Sweden to celebrate “10 years of Rojava (Kurdish uprising in Syria, editor’s note) and the memory of those who sacrificed everything for a better world”, according to a tweet of the Swedish Committee for Rojava.
Ankara, which had been blocking the entry of these two Nordic countries into the Atlantic Alliance since May, signed a memorandum of understanding with them in June linking their membership to their fight against the Kurdish movements and their supporters on their soil. Last Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again threatened to ‘freeze’ their membership, accusing Sweden in particular of not ‘taking its part’ in the fight against terrorism and of ‘sending a bad image’ about it. . These new tensions on NATO enlargement come against the backdrop of threats for two months from Turkey to launch a new operation against the PKK in northern Syria to create a “safe zone” along its border.
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