PostedMay 21, 2022, 3:55 p.m.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who opposes Sweden’s entry into NATO, expects his Swedish counterpart to take concrete action against what he calls “a terrorist organization”.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has opened a crisis within NATO.
AFP
The Turkish head of state had his first telephone conversation on Saturday with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson since the beginning of the open crisis between the two countries, as well as with Finland, about their joining the Atlantic Alliance. .
In a press release published just after this call, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he “expects Sweden to take concrete and serious measures, showing that it shares Turkey’s concerns regarding the PKK terrorist organization ( the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, editor’s note) and its extensions in Syria and Iraq”.
It also asks Stockholm to “lift its restrictions” on arms exports to Ankara since October 2019, following military operations conducted by Turkey in northern Syria and Iraq against PKK positions and of its US-backed Kurdish YPG allies against the Islamic State.
This phone call between the two leaders was not expected. The Turkish president must also meet with his Finnish counterpart.
Crisis within NATO
Turkey has opened a crisis within NATO, of which it is a member, by opposing the extension of the organization to the two Nordic countries: it accuses them of harboring and supporting members of the PKK, classified as terrorist organization by Ankara but also Washington and the European Union.
Stockholm and Helsinki officially submitted their applications to join the Alliance on Monday following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ankara has ensured since the beginning of the war to maintain relations with the two belligerents.
(AFP)