The accusation can help Sweden in the NATO process, says former Swedish ambassador to Turkey Michael Sahlin.
Stockholm
in Sweden has been charged in connection with the financing of the Kurdish organization PKK, says Swedish radio’s Ekot news program.
According to the prosecutor, the man has tried to collect money for the PKK’s activities by extortion. This is the first charge filed in Sweden related to the PKK, which is classified as a terrorist organization.
The charge can help Sweden in the NATO process, says Sweden’s former ambassador to Turkey Michael Sahl.
“The case will be seen as an example of how we apply the new [terrori]law,” he said in an interview with Swedish radio.
Sweden’s new terrorism law entered into force on the first day of June. Turkey, which pledges to accept Sweden’s NATO membership, has demanded that Sweden take a tougher stance against the PKK.
Turkey has expressed that merely changing the terrorism legislation is not a sufficient measure, but that the terrorism law must also be put into practice.
This one on Tuesday of the week, the highest in Sweden the court accepted also the extradition of a PKK supporter to Turkey. According to media reports, the 35-year-old man in question was sentenced to four years and seven months in prison in Turkey in 2014 for a drug crime.
He was paroled a couple of years later and moved to Sweden. Turkey now demands that the man serve the rest of his sentence in Turkey.
However, according to the man himself, the demand for extradition is related to the fact that he has openly shown that he supports the PKK.
Sweden and Turkey will meet at the NATO negotiating table next week. In addition to Turkey, Hungary has not yet accepted Sweden’s NATO membership.
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