Türkiye condemns Sweden for allowing terror propaganda to target President

Türkiye has condemned "in strongest terms" a new provocation by the PKK terror group in Sweden targeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.


"We condemn in the strongest terms the fact that a PKK-affiliated group was allowed to make propaganda with the symbols of a terrorist organisation and to commit an outrageous act against our president," the Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on Saturday.

The ministry also reminded the commitments undertaken by the Swedish government in the context of preventing actions of the PKK terror group and its affiliates.

Earlier, supporters of the YPG/PKK terrorist group carried out a provocative act by putting LGBT symbols on the so-called effigy of Turkish President at an LGBT gathering held in Sweden’s capital Stockholm.

Carrying pieces of cloth symbolising the YPG/PKK terror group, the demonstrators also opposed Sweden’s NATO bid.

Sweden's NATO bid

Sweden and Finland began their negotiations to join NATO after Russia initiated a "special military operation" against Ukraine in February 2022.

Türkiye, a major NATO member and the second-most powerful military in the alliance, asked the Scandinavian country to cut ties with terrorist organisations and their affiliates as a condition for its bid.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US, and the EU — has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

At a recent NATO summit in Lithuania, Erdogan agreed to forward to the Turkish parliament Sweden's bid to join NATO for a ratification vote.

Although Türkiye approved Finland's membership to NATO, it is waiting for Sweden to fulfil its commitments not to provide shelter to terrorists and supporters of terrorists and not to greenlight their actions.