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Sweden: PKK supporters continue activities despite anti-terrorism law

June 2, 2023 at 12:23 pm

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom (C) makes a speech as he attends the Foreign Relations Committee of the European Parliament at the EU Council headquarter in Brussels, Belgium on January 24, 2023 [Dursun Aydemir – Anadolu Agency]

Supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Sweden are continuing their activities in support of the organisation despite a new anti-terrorism law going into force yesterday, Anadolu reported.

According to an Anadolu correspondent, a group calling itself the Rojava Committee, a Sweden-based group supporting armed Kurdish groups in Syria, is preparing to organise a demonstration in support of the PKK on Sunday.

Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said in statements to state television that “these people seek to block Sweden’s accession to NATO, although this demonstration is legal, it is not appropriate for us.”

For his part, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said: “The fact that this small group is doing everything in its power to block Sweden’s accession to NATO is unacceptable.”

The group launched a fundraising campaign to support Kurdish forces in northern Syria a month ago and ended it at midnight yesterday, before the law came into effect.

The anti-terrorism law was one of Turkiye’s main demands in order for it to ratify the Nordic country’s NATO membership.

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