Erdogan blasts Sweden for defending Kurdish terrorist group

Reelected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated that, contrary to the West’s expectations, he will not readily allow Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Turkey, a NATO member, has repeatedly opposed Sweden's membership, accusing the latter of being soft on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an ethnic minority party that his country considers a terrorist organization. NATO membership requires the unanimous consent of all member states.

According to media outlets including Reuters, President Tayyip Erdogan's office demanded Tuesday that Sweden punish a group that flew an image of the PKK flag and a banner demanding the release of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan on the parliament building in Stockholm, Sweden on the day of Erdogan's runoff vote two days earlier.

Sweden must thoroughly investigate this incident," the Turkish presidential office said. Watchers say Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu's decision on Wednesday to skip the NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Oslo, Norway on Thursday has also been linked to the incident.

The West’s pressure on Turkey to change the latter’s stance has been intensifying. U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken held a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Tuesday, saying, "Sweden's accession to NATO is vital to European security. It should happen as soon as possible. There is no reason to take more time," Secretary Blinken said, pressing Ankara. He also made this point directly to Minister Cavusoglu in a phone call.


Sung-Hwi Kang yolo@donga.com