The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has warned against further concessions to the Turkish ruler in connection with the topic of Sweden’s accession to NATO. If Sweden were to oppress the Kurdish people in the country at the instigation of the Turkish president, this would be against all the principles Sweden stands for. Also, further concessions would only lead to even more demands on the part of the Turkish president: “Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place in Turkey in May. Until then, Erdogan will try to improve his popularity ratings by agitating against the West,” explained Dr. Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East Consultant. “He is trying to extort support for his campaign against the Kurds and other minority groups. Possibly, there will also be another attack on the Kurdish region of Kobanî in northern Syria before the elections. Kobanî stands for the Kurdish victory over the so-called ‘Islamic State’, a victory that was a thorn in Erdogan’s side.”  

In this context, the STP reiterated its criticism of the fact that the Kurdish workers’ party PKK is considered to be a “terrorist organization”. “At the latest since Turkey’s conflict with Sweden and Finland over their NATO-accession, it must have become clear that this classification is mainly motivated by geopolitical considerations. Turkey has been justifying crimes against the Kurds and other minority groups by alleged ‘anti-terror measures’. Russia and other states are also using security interests as a pretext for aggression,” Sido explained. “It would be good to deprive Turkey of this bogus argument. If the PKK is responsible for violence and human rights violations, this must be condemned – as for any other armed resistance movement. If the PKK is treated as a ‘terrorist organization’, this means that the narrative of the aggressors and the pursuing states was adopted.” However, political conflicts such as the Kurdish question can only be solved peacefully, based on dialogue.

Sweden assumes that Turkey will agree to a NATO-accession in the summer, after the elections in Turkey.