Turkey stands firm on measures against terrorism before Sweden joins NATO
President Erdogan says that despite Ankara’s warnings, Sweden has not taken any measures to extradite nearly 130 terrorists or stop PKK/PYD terrorist groups’ demonstrations in Stockholm.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stood by Ankara’s demand that Sweden hand over terrorists to Turkey before the Nordic country can join the NATO security alliance.
“We have told them (Sweden), ‘look, if you don’t hand over the terrorists you have, then we cannot ratify this (NATO membership) in our parliament,'” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a youth rally on Sunday.
Erdogan was referring to Sweden’s and Finland’s pledges last June to take a firm stance against terrorism in order to become a member of NATO.
“First of all, they have to extradite almost 130 terrorists for their bid to go through our parliament, (but) unfortunately they have not yet done this,” he added, speaking in southwestern Turkey’s Mugla province.
Erdogan added that PKK protesters are often seen on the streets of the capital Stockholm. He said that Ankara has repeatedly warned Stockholm about the situation.
“Despite our warnings, unfortunately there was no action to stop PKK/PYD demonstrations.”
“If they don’t take a stand against this situation in Sweden, it could cause the tension in our ties to grow even more,” he added.
READ MORE: No “concrete” measures from Sweden to address security concerns: Türkiye
On the terror list
Although the PKK is on the European Union’s official list of terrorist groups, Erdogan said they are also seen in Germany, France and Britain.
“We will decide our attitude towards them accordingly,” he stressed in his speech.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG/PYD is its Syrian branch.
According to a June memorandum between Türkiye, Sweden and Finland, the two Nordic countries pledged to take action against terrorists in order to gain membership in the NATO alliance, which they are seeking against the backdrop of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Unanimous agreement from all NATO members – including Türkiye, a member for more than 70 years – is required for any new members to be admitted to the alliance.
Turkey has praised some steps taken by Sweden and Finland but says the countries must do more, especially after the latest demonstrations last week in Stockholm, which reportedly directly threatened the Turkish leader.
READ MORE: Swedish professor punishes Turkish student for Sweden’s NATO bid
Source: TRTWorld and agencies