Sweden does not finance terrorism, Stockholm claims
SWEDEN said Thursday that it does not finance terrorism, as claimed by Ankara, which says this is preventing Turkey from backing the Nordic country’s bid to join NATO.
The Swedish government issued a statement describing its aid strategy to counter the Turkish government’s security concerns.
Sweden is a major donor to humanitarian actors responding to the Syrian crisis through global organizations, mainly the United Nations, that operate in the region, including in Turkey, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Sweden has a regional development cooperation strategy for the Syria crisis, which aims to support the Syrian people, as well as Syrian refugees and their host communities in neighboring countries,” the ministry said in the statement issued late on Wednesday evening.
“Sweden does not give any financial aid or military support to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), the Syrian Democratic
Council (SDC), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) or the YPG/YPJ,” the ministry statement said.
Sweden’s regional strategy received funding of 3.21 billion Swedish kroner ($376 million) between 2016 and 2023. “Syrian Kurds benefit from the support given to north-east Syria in particular, but Sweden does not give any targeted support to Syrian Kurds or to the political or military structures in north-east Syria.”
Around half of the sum funds projects supporting refugees and host communities in neighboring countries, primarily Lebanon and Jordan.
Regarding support to Syria, Sweden’s government agency for development cooperation (SIDA) supports activities in all parts of the country where there are significant needs, the statement said.
Support for north-east Syria last year amounted to the equivalent of just under 9.5 million euros ($10.1 million), the ministry said.
As diplomatic talks to overcome Turkey’s
objections to Nordic countries’ NATO bid continue, French President Emmanuel Macron asked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday to “respect the sovereign choice” of Finland and Sweden to join NATO.
He was hoping to avoid Ankara vetoing their requests to join the trans-Atlantic defense pact.
Turkey warned Wednesday that the NATO accession process for Sweden and Finland would not move forward unless they addressed Ankara’s security concerns, a reference to their supposed sympathy toward terrorist groups.
“The president underscored the need to respect the sovereign choice of these two countries, which emerged from a democratic process and in reaction to the changes in their security environment,” Macron’s office said after a telephone call with Erdoğan. “He said he hoped the discussions would continue to find a solution quickly,” his office added.