STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s new government will distance itself from the Kurdish YPG defense force as it tries to win Turkey’s approval to join NATO, Sweden’s foreign minister told Swedish radio on Saturday.
The Syrian Kurdish defense force YPG and its PYD political wing are known in Turkey as extensions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which introduced an insurgency against Turkey in 1980 and is a terrorist organization in Turkey, the United States and Europe. Union.
Sweden, along with the United States and several NATO countries, have supported the YPG in the fight against the Islamic State.
However, Turkey has vowed to block Sweden’s application for the NATO club if it prevents support for the militia.
“There is too close a link between these organizations and the PKK. . . and for relations between us and Turkey,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told Swedish radio.
“The main target is the Swedish NATO club,” he said.
The move comes just days before Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson travels to Ankara to try to convince Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to allow Sweden to join the military alliance.
Sweden and Finland implemented to join NATO earlier this year as a direct result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The candidacy was approved by 28 of the 30 NATO countries. The Nordic countries said this week they were confident Hungary would also withdraw its objections.
(Reporting through Johan Ahlander; Editing via Mark Potter)
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