Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his country will oppose Sweden’s bid to join NATO, citing pro-Kurdish protests in Stockholm this weekend.
Turkey has long criticized Sweden for its tolerance of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a group that Turkey, the United States and the EU have condemned as a terrorist organization. Rasmus Paludan, a Swedish politician, burned a Koran in front of the Turkish embassy during a protest this weekend, and the PKK joined other pro-Kurdish groups in another protest.
“It is clear that those who allowed such vileness to take place in front of our embassy can no longer expect any charity from us regarding their application for NATO membership,” Erdogan said on Monday. “Then they will let terrorist organizations run amok on their avenues and streets and then wait for our support to join NATO. That’s not going to happen.”
“You will not see any support from us on the NATO issue,” unless Sweden starts to respect Turkey’s views, he added.
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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference in Ankara, Turkey, on May 14, 2022.
(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
A protester prepares to jump over a banner with the image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a demonstration organized by the Center of the Kurdish Democratic Society in Sweden, as Sweden seeks Turkey’s approval to join NATO, in Stockholm, on Saturday, January 21, 2023. (Christine Olsson/TT News Agency via AP)
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Sweden and Finland were invited to seek NATO membership in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, each new member must be approved by unanimous consent, and Turkey is the only country that opposes Sweden’s membership.
The PKK has been operating as an insurgent group in northern Syria harassing Turkey for decades.
Sweden announced changes to its anti-terror laws in a bid to address Turkey’s concerns in June 2022, but Erdogan was not satisfied.
Erdogan last week demanded that Sweden deport some 130 PKK members whom it has deemed terrorists.
Andreas, 39, a member of the Swedish Solidarity Committee for Rojava, is reflected next to a car bearing an effigy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on January 16, 2023, in Stockholm, Sweden. – His action put another wrench in the works of Sweden’s efforts to join NATO and the pro-Kurdish activists who hung an effigy of Turkey’s president in Stockholm on January 11, 2023 argue that their “provocation” was in the name of freedom of expression. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)
(Photo by Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images)
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“We said look, so if you don’t hand over your terrorists to us, we can’t get past you.” [approval of the NATO application] through parliament anyway,” Erdogan said at the time. “In order for this to pass through parliament, first of all, you have to give us more than 100, about 130 of these terrorists.”
Associated Press contributed to this report.
