Turkey Sweden tensions: Turkey has always alleged that Sweden supports Kurdish terrorists and that’s why it’s not willing to help its membership dreams.
According to Reuters, Turkey says Sweden, in particular, harbors what Ankara says are militants from the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.
The PKK is designated a terrorist group in Turkey, Sweden, the United States and Europe.
Turkey wants Stockholm and Helsinki to act more firmly against the PKK and another organization it holds accountable for a failed coup attempt in 2016. In Madrid, Finland and Sweden decided to further up efforts to combat terrorism, including stepping up efforts to extradite and deport suspected terrorists.
They’ve been engaged in a constant battle over Sweden’s NATO membership. Turkey has always alleged that Sweden supports Kurdish terrorists and that’s why it’s not willing to support its membership dreams.
But now, Turkey has finally agreed to it.
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Protests in Stockholm, which Ankara claims to be hate crimes but which are protected by Swedish free speech legislation, have also contributed to the escalation of tensions between Sweden and Turkey.
But now, US has convinced Turkey to approve Sweden’s NATO dreams. But this sudden approval raises questions as to why this has suddenly happened.
The truth behind this is that US has bribed Turkey with something that it had been wanting for a long time i.e., F16s. Turkey sought to upgrade its F-16 fleet after it was kicked off a project to develop the F-35 fighter.
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And US has clearly put the right foot forward to appease Turkey and help Sweden. But is this step a good step forward for world peace too?