Turkey's state news agency distorts 'terrorism' remarks of Sweden's PM

Photo: AA

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The state-run Anadolu Agency (AA) distorted the remarks of Sweden's PM Ulf Kristersson during a joint press conference with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

After a meeting in Stockholm yesterday (March 7), the two addressed a joint press conference, answering questions about a new "anti-terror" bill in Sweden and Turkey's demands to greenlight the country's membership bid.

According to the AA report, Kristersson said, in response to a question, "Swedish authorities are taking tougher measures against PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] members who raise money for terrorism. Previously, we did not take the financial activities of terrorist organizations in Sweden seriously enough. Now we take this seriously.

"We know that the people who raise money for the PKK use various criminal methods and finance terrorism. The government's focus on fighting organized crime will make the PKK's job more difficult."

However, these quoted remarks do not correspond to those in a transcription of the conference published on NATO's website. The report on AA's English edition does not include these remarks, either.

According to the transcription, in response to a question about whether the new act will lead to further extraditions to Turkey, Kristersson said, "Well, the specific consequences are quite difficult to see right now. But this will be a serious blow against people who take part in terror activities, I'm convinced about that.

"... This issue, the problem with Sweden has been that we didn't take it seriously enough these types of terror activities or participation or financing which was directed at other countries rather than Sweden. Now we're taking it really seriously, and I am sure that it will be noticeable once legislation has been introduced."

According to the transcription, while the PM and the NATO chief stressed the importance of cooperation with Turkey against "terrorism" throughout the conference, they directly referred to the PKK only once, when Stoltenberg said, "I welcome that Sweden has stepped up in the fight against terrorism, including the PKK, by introducing new terrorism legislation and strengthening counter-terrorism cooperation with Ankara."

What happened?

Sweden and Finland last year applied to join NATO, in a decision triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Turkey, however, objected to their membership, citing their inaction against "terror groups," namely the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the "Fetullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ)," an Islamic group held responsible for the 2016 coup attempt.

The three countries signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding on June 28 at the NATO summit in Madrid, which stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Defense Units (YPG), which Turkey sees as the PKK's extensions in Syria.

The Nordic countries also agreed to address Ankara's pending deportation or extradition requests regarding "terror" suspects.
Turkey's parliament must ratify the country's approval for Finland and Sweden's membership for them to join NATO.

In September, Sweden lifted restrictions on arms sales to Turkey, which was among Ankara's demands in order to approve its NATO bid.

The trilateral talks were interrupted after the Quran-burning incidents in Sweden in late January. (VK)