PKK sympathizers Monday projected propaganda targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Swedish officials on the exterior of Parliament in Stockholm.
A banner with the terrorist group’s flag was displayed in Parliament while Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom were targeted through videos alongside Erdoğan.
The video also said that PKK/YPG sympathizers would protest the anti-terror law that will come into force in Sweden on June 1 at the Norra Bantorget Square in Stockholm.
“It is completely unacceptable that PKK terrorists continue to operate freely in Sweden – which has applied for NATO membership,” Communications Director Fahrettin Altun said on Tuesday.
Saying that Ankara expects the Swedish authorities to investigate the incident and hold accountable those responsible, he added Stockholm must stop “self-identified members of PKK – which the EU recognizes as a terrorist entity – from operating on Swedish soil.”
“We sincerely hope that the new anti-terror law, which will enter into force on June 1, will be properly enforced. Specifically, the Swedish authorities must prevent PKK members from demonstrating on June 4 if they are serious about addressing Türkiye’s concerns,” he concluded.
According to the upcoming bill, association with a terrorist organization will be a punishable offense.
“It also proposes to make it a punishable offense to finance participation in a terrorist organization, to publicly provoke or recruit others, or to travel abroad for the purpose of committing this offense,” the Swedish government said in a written statement.
Continuing terror-affiliated and anti-Türkiye protests risk endangering Sweden’s NATO bid.
In a historic turnaround, Sweden and Finland abandoned their longstanding policies of military non-alliance and applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Last June, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.
But recent provocative demonstrations by terrorist sympathizers and Islamophobic figures in Stockholm have led Turkish leaders to question Sweden’s commitment to take the steps necessary for NATO membership.
Ankara ratified Finland's membership in March, enabling it to become a full member of the defense alliance this week.
Ankara has previously said Sweden in particular must first take a clearer stance against terrorists. Türkiye has frequently voiced that it does not oppose NATO expansion but criticizes Stockholm for not taking action against elements that pose a security threat to Ankara.
The burning of Islam's holy book outside Türkiye’s Embassy in Stockholm in January sparked anger in the Islamic world, leading to weeks of protests, calls for a boycott of Swedish goods and holding up Sweden's NATO membership bid.
