The speaker of the Turkish parliament asks Sweden to take concrete measures to prevent terrorist provocations
ANKARA
The speaker of the Turkish parliament has called on his Swedish counterpart to take necessary measures on Thursday’s provocative demonstration by terrorist supporters in Stockholm, which targeted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“We urgently expect the perpetrators of this action to be identified and concrete measures to be taken to prevent such incidents,” Turkey’s Mustafa Sentop told Andreas Norlen by phone on Friday.
“The heinous act of the terrorist organization PKK/PYD/YPG supporters in Stockholm, directed against Türkiye and our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, caused great discomfort in the country, and in all parts of society,” Sentop said.
Supporters of the PKK and its offshoots gathered in front of the historic city hall in the capital Stockholm, hanging a puppet – similar to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan – by the feet of a post in front of the building and sharing video footage of the moment on social media.
In response to the demonstration, Sentop canceled Norlen’s visit to Türkiye, which had been scheduled for January 17.
We find this act unacceptable and strongly condemn it, Sentop said.
Norlen expressed his disappointment at the cancellation of the visit, saying: “I was disturbed, even disgusted, when I saw the pictures appear in front of Stockholm City Hall.”
He added: “Such acts of violence and threats against politicians have no place in democratic societies.”
He said that threats of violence against politicians have no place in a democratic dialogue, adding that he looks forward to visiting the Turkish Parliament with Finnish Parliament Speaker Matti Vanhanen.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry had also summoned Staffan Herrström, Swedish ambassador in Ankara, to mediate the country’s reaction to the propaganda demonstration.
Sweden and Finland abandoned their long-standing policy of military non-alignment and applied for membership in the military alliance after Russia launched its war on Ukraine last February.
But NATO member Turkey has yet to approve their accession, which requires unanimous approval from all existing alliance members.
Turkish officials say that Swedish authorities have not yet taken the necessary measures against terrorism.