Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said today that her country openly supports the fight against terrorism and the inclusion of the PKK on the list of terrorists.
After today’s telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told Swedish state television SVT that Sweden supports the PKK’s inclusion on the terrorist list.
– I also stressed that Sweden welcomes the joint fight against global terrorism. I also pointed out that I openly support the PKK being on the terrorist list as part of the fight against terrorism – she said.
https://twitter.com/SwedishPM/status/1528011681925832704
Andersson announced on his Twitter account that he was looking forward to strengthening bilateral relations with Turkey.
Turkey, a longtime NATO member, has objected to Finland and Sweden’s candidacies for membership, criticizing the two countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups, including the YPG / PKK.
In the last five years, both Helsinki and Stockholm have refused to accept Ankara’s demands for the extradition of dozens of terrorists, including members of the PKK and FETO, the terrorist group behind the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey .
The high representatives of Finland and Sweden are scheduled to visit Turkey in the coming days to hold official talks in Ankara on the issue of the process of their joining NATO.
For more than 35 years, the PKK, which has been declared a terrorist organization in Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including women, children and the elderly. The YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK.