Turkey criticizes Sweden’s refusal to investigate threats against Erdogan
Foreign Minister Cavusoglu calls on Swedish authorities not to investigate what he describes as “hate crimes” committed by PKK terrorist supporters against the Turkish leader.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has railed against Sweden’s refusal to prosecute supporters of the terrorist group PKK for last week’s provocative demonstrations and threats against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Stockholm.
“The (Swedish) prosecutor’s office’s decision not to investigate the incident is extremely absurd, we all know what the rule of law means,” Cavusoglu said on Tuesday.
He spoke at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir Abdollahian in the Turkish capital Ankara.
His remarks came after PKK supporters gathered in front of the historic city hall in the Swedish capital last week and hanged upside down a picture of the Turkish leader.
“This is a racist and hateful act that includes a hate crime, this goes against universal values and is a crime under international law,” Cavusoglu said of the incident.
Cavusoglu also reminded Sweden of the memorandum it signed at a NATO summit last June to address Turkey’s security concerns.
“When you look at Sweden’s testimony in the memorandum, do they have a promise to fight them (terrorists)? Yes, they do. Second, we are talking about freedom of expression. Is this attack, this provocation, a racist attack? Yes,” he said.
He said that Sweden “will either fall victim to the mines laid by terrorists, or we will all move forward by considering the safety of us and fulfilling the commitments in the memorandum.”
“The decision here is up to Sweden,” he said.
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PKK provocation against Türkiye in Sweden “racist” and “hate crime”
Ankara’s security problems
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO in May 2022, abandoning decades of military non-alignment, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
But Türkiye – a NATO member for more than 70 years – expressed objections, accusing the two countries of tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups, including the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).
Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.
Turkey has praised some steps taken by Sweden and Finland but says the countries must do more to show their firm stance against terrorism and terrorist groups that threaten Turkey.
In its more than 35-year armed 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.
Meanwhile, FETO orchestrated a failed coup in Türkiye in 2016, in which 252 people were killed and 2,734 injured.
FETO was also behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.
READ MORE: Cavusoglu calls Turkish student denied internship in Sweden because of NATO bid
Source: AA