Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Sweden should not expect Ankara’s approval to join NATO at the alliance’s upcoming summit that will be held in Vilnius this July.
Erdogan said the Swedish government must do more to curb anti-Turkish protests. Stockholm’s effort to placate Turkey by passing a new anti-terror law and Ankara’s efforts to target Kurds in Sweden have sparked anti-NATO and anti-Turkish demonstrations in the Nordic nation.
Turkey accuses Sweden of supporting the PKK, a Kurdish militant group Turkey and the US consider a terrorist organization. PKK flags have been spotted at the anti-NATO, anti-Turkey demonstrations in Sweden.
Erdogan said Wednesday that “terrorists” were demonstrating in Sweden while NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg was trying to convince him to approve Stockholm’s membership.
Officials from Sweden, Finland, and NATO were in Ankara on Wednesday to meet with their Turkish counterparts. Erdogan said the message that will be delivered to the delegation is “definitely don’t expect anything different in Vilnius.”
Erdogan’s comments came after Sweden approved the extradition of a 35-year-old Turkish citizen who previously expressed support for the PKK. Ankara has been seeking the extradition of dozens of suspected PKK members from the country.
It is a sad sign if our times that an authoritarian regime is demanding the truncation of free speech in order to squash the enlargement of an aggressive military alliance encircling a nuclear armed Russia.
If Sweden does the right thing and tells Erdogan no, then let us pray that Erdogan does the right thing and tells Sweden no. The correct action even if done for an unrighteous reason is at least harm reduction.
The law of unintended consequences strikes again – it probably wasn’t the most sensible idea for members of NATO to interfere in Turkiye’s recent elections, while also expecting Turkiye’s support for Sweden’s membership.
Ironically, Turkiye may well be doing Sweden an unintended favour.
In other news, Sweden sent cases of surstromming to NATO/AFU recently…
I looked it up. …No, thanks. I’ll take my chances with gas station sushi.
Sounds almost as bad as lutefisk.
Erdogan is like a bull with one horn and one b@ll. …No, it’s not about the bull in a China shop. A bull with one horn and one b@ll doesn’t know how to fight and doesn’t know how to f*ck. (Sarcasm alert)
I had a professor who was not pleased about Sweden’s “neutrality” during WW2 because that meant their trade with Germany enabled them to wage war.
Now they want to be part of NATO.
That professor, a Swedish swimsuit model look-alike (she was a walking stereotype in regards to her appearence) was really upset about WW2 and their big industries who enabled that crazy house painter, so I’d imagine she and her friends in the Swedish anti-nuke community are absolutely upset about NATO membership as they protest Erdogan.
In fact this would encourage her and her old friends from her youth if NATO membership goes off the table if the protests continue.
But this wont stop NATO from making Sweden a de facto member nevertheless. This will make NATO membership worthless.
That’s what I thought… Sweden is nickel and diming Turkey on extraditions…!
“Erdogan’s comments came after Sweden approved the extradition of a 35-year-old Turkish citizen who previously expressed support for the PKK.”
Poor sap. Probably wondering what the fuck? When did I do that? Sorry, they needed a body.
Midnight Express to the Ottoman Emperor’s personal dungeon. Human Rights Watch will only start really “watching” if Erdogan leans more toward Russia. They’re too busy “watching” other countries not toeing the line. (Sarcasm)
Great movie.