AA / Stockholm
The Swedish capital, Stockholm, was the scene of a demonstration on Saturday by supporters of the PKK terrorist organization, to protest against Sweden’s candidacy for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Nearly 200 supporters of the terrorist organization gathered at Norra Bantorget Square in Stockholm, before converging on the headquarters of Sweden’s ruling Social Democratic Party.
The demonstrators waved flags stamped with the acronyms of the PKK and its Syrian branch, the PYD, chanting slogans hostile to Sweden’s membership in NATO and to Turkey’s demands.
Slogans such as “we are all the PKK” were chanted during this demonstration, while the police did not react, despite the absence of authorization to demonstrate.
Earlier on Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson to end all forms of her country’s support for terrorist organizations.
Erdogan and Anderson discussed bilateral relations and Sweden’s application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) over the phone, according to a statement released by the Turkish Presidency’s communication department.
During this telephone interview, the Turkish head of state spoke of the imperative for Sweden to “put an end to its political and financial support and to the supply of arms to terrorist organizations”.
The Turkish president said he “expects Sweden to take concrete measures, showing that it shares Turkey’s concerns about the PKK terrorist organization and its extensions in Syria and Iraq”.
*Translated from Arabic by Majdi Ismail
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