Swedish journalist says Turkiye is right to oppose Stockholm's NATO membership

By Atila Altuntas

STOCKHOLM (AA) – Turkiye has valid grounds for opposing Sweden's NATO membership, a Swedish journalist said in his column on Thursday.

PM Nilsson, foreign affairs editor at Swedish daily Dagens Industri, said that there are legitimate reasons for Turkiye to stand against Sweden's application to join NATO.

He said the Social Democratic Party's precondition for Magdalena Andersson's election as premier was the "agreement" it made with independent MP Amineh Kakabaveh to help the YPG/PKK terror group.

The agreement was "weird" and "unconstitutional," he said.

"It was to deepen cooperation with the YPG/PKK in Syria. This agreement means that a single lawmaker dictates Sweden's foreign policy through the YPG, which is defined by Turkiye as the Syrian branch of the PKK," according to Nilsson.

He further said this "untenable agreement" showed that there is no "misunderstanding" by Turkiye, as opposed to what Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said.

On the election of Andersson as Sweden's prime minister, far-right Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson had said that the Social Democratic Party was negotiating with the PKK terror group to form a government.

"We saw that the Social Democratic Party would establish a close relationship with the PYD, a branch of the PKK terror group, via Kakabaveh to form the government," Akesson had said.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Turkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the US and European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants. The YPG is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.