The Turkish president is demanding concessions that are primarily of use to him domestically. Sweden sends a delegation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan remains firm. According to Ragip Soylu, editor-in-chief of the well-connected Middle East Eye news agency, Turkey will say “no” to NATO membership of Sweden and Finland.
Erdoğan blocked further accession negotiations between the two countries on Wednesday after they had formally submitted their application to join the defense alliance in Brussels. The head of state accuses both countries of harboring “terrorists”. This refers to the Kurdish organization PKK and the “People’s Defense Units” (YPG), a Kurdish militia in Syria.
Claims on Sweden
The allegations are primarily aimed at Sweden, which over the years has not complied with Turkey’s demands to extradite Kurds with PKK connections and members of the supposed Islamist Gülen movement. Since 2015 alone, Sweden has rejected eight extradition requests from Turkey.
The government in Ankara is also demanding that Sweden export arms to Turkey again. The country joined the boycott of other EU countries in 2019 in response to Turkey’s aggressive Syria policy.
According to the Swedish media, another demand is for the two Scandinavian countries to classify the Kurdish “People’s Defense Units” (YPG) as a terrorist organization. While the PKK is also considered a terrorist group in Sweden according to EU guidelines, the YPG is seen in the West as an ally in the fight against the Islamic State (IS).
The main reason for Turkish complaints was the Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist. It is said that he met with YPG representatives in 2019 and offered them support. In addition, it was only in April 2021 that Hultqvist took part in a video conference of Kurdish militias that ensured that the Swedish ambassador in Ankara was summoned.
Kurds in Sweden
Ironically, Sweden was the first country after Turkey to classify the PKK as a terrorist organization in 1985. The left-wing Kurds were also treated by the Swedish police as the first suspects in the murder of former Prime Minister Olof Palme. The head of government was shot dead in Stockholm in 1986. With his generous asylum policy, Palme caused many Kurds to move to Sweden in the 1970s. Their number is currently estimated at around 100,000.
A Swedish delegation is now supposed to placate the Turks. Mike Winnerstig of the state Defense Research Institute said on the radio, “It’s going to be a bit of horse-trading.”