STOCKHOLM
Supporters of the PKK/YPG terrorist organization held a rally in the Swedish capital on Saturday, calling for an end to Türkiye’s counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq.
Carrying posters, rags and other pieces symbolizing terrorist attire, they piled up at Norra Bantorget in central Stockholm.
Turkish security forces carry out counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq, a region where PKK terrorists have hideouts and bases from which they plan cross-border attacks.
Abandoning decades of army non-alignment, Sweden and Finland officially implemented NATO membership in May, a move motivated by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
But Türkiye has voiced objections to his club’s offers, accusing the two Nordic nations of tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
Stockholm and Helsinki reached an agreement with Ankara in June that obliges them not to provide aid to the PKK and its affiliates, nor to the terrorist organization Fetullah (FETO), an organization that defeated the coup in Turkey in 2016. Ankara has also called for the extradition of suspected terrorists.
Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, warned that Türkiye will give the green light to its members until their concerns are resolved.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently visited Turkey to discuss club applications, which require unanimous approval from the alliance’s 30-member club.
During its terrorist crusade of more than 35 years against Turkey, the PKK -indexed as a terrorist organization through Turkey, USA. and the EU – has been guilty of the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, young people and babies. YPG is its Syrian branch.