Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said that his country “condemns all terrorist organizations, including the PKK,” reports Anadolia.
Billstrom addressed a press conference in Paris alongside French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.
Sweden’s foreign minister said that with the new anti-terrorism law, which took effect on June 1, Sweden fulfilled the last part of its commitment under the June 2022 trilateral memorandum signed in Madrid to address Ankara’s security concerns about terrorism.
He noted that Stockholm’s goal is the same as Ankara’s, which is the fight against terrorism.
Answering a question from Anatolia journalists about what his government has done in the fight against the PKK, he reiterated that Stockholm has fulfilled its obligations and that cooperation between the Swedish and Turkish police has improved significantly.
“Sweden’s position on the PKK is very clear. That’s why we wanted to fulfill everything that was written and we decided in the memorandum to become a member of NATO,” said Billstrom.
Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership shortly after Russia launched the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Although Turkiye has approved Finland’s NATO membership, it is waiting for Sweden to comply with a trilateral memorandum signed last June in Madrid to address Ankara’s security concerns about terrorism.
Sweden passed an anti-terrorism law in November, hoping that Ankara will approve Stockholm’s bid to join NATO. The new law, which took effect on June 1, allows authorities to prosecute individuals who support terrorist groups.
Several foreign ministers hope Turkey will approve Sweden’s bid ahead of next month’s NATO summit.
However, the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that Sweden must do its part in the fight against terrorist organizations if Turkey is expected to meet Sweden’s expectations for NATO membership.
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