Ankara summons Swedish envoy over PKK terrorist propaganda
The Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden’s envoy to request an investigation into an incident in Stockholm that it regards as terrorist propaganda
TÜRKİYE’S Foreign Ministry summoned Sweden’s ambassador to the country on Monday over terrorist propaganda was projected on the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm, according to diplomatic sources.
Staffan Herrstrom was summoned to the ministry in the capital Ankara after elements affiliated with the PKK terror group projected statements and photographs containing terrorist propaganda and insulting images against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the embassy’s chancellery building, the sources said.
Turkish officials conveyed Ankara’s condemnation of the act and its request for an investigation into the incident to Herrstrom, according to the sources.
They added that officials stressed, “our expectation that the perpetrators of this unacceptable act be identified, the necessary measures are enacted, and concrete steps are taken in light of the commitments in the Trilateral Memorandum.”
Ankara is not against the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar reiterated Tuesday but added that Türkiye expects them to fulfill commitments under the NATO deal signed in June.
Akar said Türkiye supports the opendoor policy of NATO, adding: “We are not against the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland. However, we expect them to fulfill the commitments they signed on June 28 in Madrid.”
Ankara expects them to cut ties with the terrorists and end their support to them, he said.
Supporters of the PKK terrorist group held a demonstration in Sweden’s capital on Sunday calling for an end to Türkiye’s counterterrorism operations in northern Syria and northern Iraq, near the Turkish border.
The Claw-Sword Air Operation was conducted in northern Iraq and northern Syria, both areas used by terrorists as hideouts to plan and mount attacks against Türkiye, the Defense Ministry said in a statement Sunday.
The operation came after last Sunday’s terror attack on Istanbul’s crowded İstiklal Avenue that killed at least six people and left 81 injured. The ministry said the operation was carried out in line with the right of selfdefense arising from Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.
Supporters of the terrorist group gathered in Sergels Torg Square, demanding that Sweden impose an arms embargo on Türkiye and cancel the agreement reached this June on Sweden’s prospective NATO membership.
Carrying posters, rags and other items symbolizing the terror outfit, protestors called for Operation Claw-Sword to be stopped. Last Wednesday, Sweden moved towards a constitutional amendment to alter its anti-terror law.
The changes would give greater opportunity to restrict freedom of association for groups engaged in terrorism-a key demand from Türkiye to approve Stockholm’s NATO membership bid.
It would also be possible to propose and decide on laws that ban terror groups or involve participation in a terror group’s criminal offenses.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden and Finland abandoned their long-held policy of non-alignment and applied to join the military alliance. But Türkiye has blocked Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership applications, accusing Stockholm in particular of being a haven for terrorists.
Stockholm and Helsinki struck a deal with Ankara in June, which requires them not to provide support to the PKK and its offshoots, or to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye. Ankara has also called for the extradition of terror suspects.
The amendment, which passed with 278 votes in Sweden’s 349-seat parliament, makes it possible to introduce new laws to “limit freedom of association when it comes to associations that engage in or support terrorism.”
According to the parliament’s standing committee on constitutional affairs, which recommended legislators approve the proposal, the law will enable “wider criminalization of participation in a terrorist organization or a ban against terrorist organization.”
Experts have said new legislation would make it easier to prosecute members of the PKK terror group, blacklisted by Ankara and most of its Western allies. The change will enter into force on Jan. 1.
During a visit to Ankara recently, Sweden’s new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the constitutional amendment as a “big step.”
“Sweden will take big steps by the end of the year and early next year that will give Swedish legal authorities more muscles to fight terrorism,” he said at a joint press conference with Erdoğan.
Turkish officials, including President Erdoğan, have warned that Türkiye will not give the nod to their memberships until the memorandum is implemented.
Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited Türkiye in recent weeks to discuss the membership bids. In order for a country to join NATO, unanimous consent is required, which equals the approval of all 30 existing allied countries.
The tripartite memorandum between Finland, Sweden and Türkiye for NATO membership of the Nordic nations will be fulfilled, the Swedish foreign minister reiterated last week.
Türkiye will only ratify the NATO membership application of Sweden and Finland if they fulfill their responsibilities stated in the deal signed in June, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has said.
Hungary and Türkiye are the only members of the alliance who have not yet cleared the accession. The Hungarian government has submitted the relevant legislation to parliament but it has not yet been tabled for debate and vote.
CALL FROM NATO
Meanwhile, Sweden and Finland need to cooperate more with Türkiye and tighten their anti-terror laws to combat terrorist groups to join NATO, the alliance’s top official has said.
The two Nordic countries should bolster cooperation with Türkiye in the fight against the PKK terrorist organization and its offshoots, Stoltenberg told Swedish public broadcaster SVT late Sunday.
On why Türkiye has yet to join 28 fellow allies in ratifying Sweden and Finland’s application to join NATO, Stoltenberg noted that Ankara’s terrorism-related concerns were due to it having suffered more terror attacks than any other country in the alliance.
On Türkiye’s counterterrorism efforts, the NATO chief emphasized Türkiye’s right to defend itself against such terrorist organizations.
Türkiye has the right to defend itself against terrorism, Sweden’s foreign minister also said Monday.
Türkiye “is a state that has been subjected to terrorist attacks, and all states have the right to defend themselves,” Tobias Billstrom told Sweden’s Expressen newspaper in Paris, where he was attending a donor conference for Moldova to help it deal with the impact of the Ukraine war and soaring food and energy prices.
“It is important to avoid civilian casualties and civilian targets,” Billstrom noted.