Fears that Norway, Sweden and Finland will yield to Erdogan’s pressure – VG

Turkey and President Erdogan are putting heavy pressure on the Scandinavian countries regarding Sweden and Finland’s NATO application. Kurds in Norway are following the news with disappointment.

– What I fear is that Sweden, Finland and Norway will yield to Erdogan’s demands. If they do, they will lose all of their moral values, Andam Aziz told VG.

He is the spokesperson for the Kurdistan Democratic Society Center in Norway, one of the many Kurdish organizations in Norway.

He closely follows the debate over Turkey and NATO expansion.

“Sweden is rotting with Kurdish terrorists,” Turkish presidential advisor Ilnur Cevik said in a statement. Interview with VG.

He added that “the PKK organized rallies in the streets of Sweden and Finland.”

Harsh accusations come from Sweden and Finland from the government in Ankara after the two Nordic countries Apply for NATO membership Wednesday. Turkey was fast at that Temporarily block appsTurkey is one of the 30 member states of the Defense Alliance.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan claims that Sweden in particular is a “free port for terrorists”, and put forward a large number of demands related to striking terrorism, expelling Kurdish groups in Sweden and cutting off contact with them.

The demands are specifically directed at the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which is classified as a terrorist group in Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

The Turkish ambassador in Stockholm, Hakki Emre Yunt, on Friday evening, accused several members of the Swedish parliament of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. He specifically referred to Amina Kabbawa, and she said that would like to be extradited to Turkey.

But a few hours later, Yunt denied that he wanted to extradite the Swedish politician. To Radio Sweden, he says it’s because of a misunderstanding.

background: 100 years of betrayal – this is the struggle of the Kurds

There are a number of Kurdish politicians and interest groups in Norway and the Nordic countries. On Friday, VG contacted two of those in Norway.

What do they think of the accusations from Turkey?

I think Erdogan is desperate

“Erdogan is behaving like a bully and he has become a big problem for Europe and NATO,” Aziz said.

He believes that closing two Kurdish organizations in the north will not solve the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, but “it will give Erdogan the rein to demand more.”

What do you think of the way Erdogan and Turkey now refer to both the Kurds and the PKK in the Nordic countries?

Erdogan looks desperate. It struggles at home politically, economically and militarily against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Now he wants to use the request of Sweden and Finland to NATO to put more pressure on the Kurds who are fighting against him in parliament, cities, mountains and prisons. He says he wants the countries of the North to accept Erdogan’s persecution and attacks on the Kurds.

Responds to accusations of terrorism

Aziz further claims that the Kurds do not pose a threat to security in the Nordic countries and points to Norway as a place for negotiations and peace between Turkey and the Kurds.

Andam Aziz says he sympathizes with the PKK, believes in its ideology, and believes that their fight for Kurdistan is legitimate.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was founded in Turkey in 1978 by activist Abdullah Ocalan, combining revolutionary Marxism with Kurdish nationalism.

After a long, raging conflict with the Turkish authorities, the group declared armed struggle in 1984. Since then, the PKK’s guerrilla war against Turkish security forces has been considered either a freedom struggle or a terror, depending on which eyes it sees.

Turkey considers the PKK terrorists. What is your opinion?

– It is a term that Turkey uses to persecute all Kurds. Mandela and the African National Congress were once designated terrorists. Anyone who criticizes the Turkish state is a terrorist in their eyes, he says and adds:

– It was the PKK that fought ISIS on behalf of the international community and the PKK once again saved the Yazidis from genocide. For me, the PKK is an organization that represents the demands of the Kurdish people for freedom, democracy and women’s liberation. The PKK is the result of Turkey’s persecution and oppression of the Kurds.

I think Turkey will achieve something

Rengin Mahima, deputy head of the Norwegian branch of the Kurdish National Council of Kurds from Syria.

She says she does not support Erdogan’s actions and pressure because he “wounds all Kurds with the same knife.”

But Erdogan is somewhat right in the way he discusses the PKK’s presence and activities in the north. They have established their presence in the northern region in the form of civic and cultural organizations directly linked to the PKK, she said.

Mahima believes Erdogan will achieve something with his tough diplomacy.

Erdogan is now acting as a ruler in the region. He is trying to achieve something in the upcoming elections in Turkey. I don’t know if his pressure is working or not, but he will achieve something when it comes to the PKK in the Nordic countries, she says.