Ankara Urges Stockholm to ‘End Supporting Terror Groups’
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Turkish president on Saturday talked about his country’s concerns regarding the activities of “terror” groups in Sweden, calling on Stockholm to end support for such groups.
According to a statement by Turkey's Communications Directorate, Recep Tayyip Erdogan informed Magdalena Andersson about Turkish concerns regarding the activities of the PKK/YPG and FETO in Sweden, and said that the NATO-candidate country should put an end to its financial, political and weapon support to such groups, Yeni Safak reported.
Ankara expects Stockholm to take serious steps to address its concerns with regards to the terror groups, he said, adding that the claim that PKK/YPG was fighting the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terror group did not reflect the reality.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO on Wednesday – a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine, which began in February.
But Turkey, a longstanding member of the alliance, has voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US, and the EU and Ankara says that the group has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people.
