New Turkish demands on Sweden – punish Kurdish activists

Published 1 June 2023
- By Editorial Staff
Left: Erdogan's Head of Communications Fahrettin Altun. Right: People protesting with PKK flags.

Turkey continues to press Sweden to override established rights and freedoms to take tougher action against groups that the Turkish regime considers to be terrorists.

This time, Erdogan’s communications director is demanding that the Kurdish Rojava Committee protesters who displayed the flag of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) at the parliament building “be held accountable and stopped”.

It has previously been reported that the Turkish regime has made a long list of demands on Sweden in exchange for approving the Swedish NATO application.

In practice, the demands involve Sweden fighting and criminalizing in various ways the groups the Turkish regime regards as terrorists, as well as Sweden introducing blasphemy laws and banning Koran burning.

On Monday night, the pro-Kurdish radical left-wing Rojava committees published images and videos on social media showing the flag of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) being projected onto the parliament building with an image saying “RIP freedom of expression”.

The video clip also shows Swedish ministers Ulf Kristersson and Tobias Billström wearing “devil horns” and a photograph of what appears to be President Erdogan being set on fire.

The action has prompted Turkey to cry out and demand once again that Sweden change its legislation.

“It is totally unacceptable that PKK terrorists continue to operate freely in Sweden”, Fahrettin Altun, director of communications at the presidential office in Turkey, wrote on Twitter.

“We expect the Swedish authorities to investigate the incident and stop the PKK members, whom the EU has recognized as terrorists, from operating on Swedish soil”, he continued, referring to Sweden’s newly created and criticized terrorism law, which makes it a criminal offence to assist terrorist organizations in various ways.

Furthermore, Turkey demands that PKK supporters be actively prevented from demonstrating in Sweden in the future.

Rojava is a now effectively autonomous region in north-eastern Syria, south of Turkey, with significant Kurdish influence.

The Rojava Committees describe themselves as "a network for solidarity and exchange with the revolutionary movement in Kurdistan". Their focus is described as "organizing activists in Sweden and coordinating projects aimed at supporting the struggle in Rojava".