Cavusoglu: Sweden to decide whether to bow to the Kurds, or whether to join NATO

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said today that Ankara expects decisive action from Sweden after the incident in Stockholm in which a statue of President Tayyip Erdogan was hung by the feet from a rope outside Stockholm City Hall, adding further diplomatic pressure to Sweden’s attempt to join NATO.

Mevlut Cavusoglu said Sweden “cannot escape its responsibilities” by only condemning the incident.

“The supporters of the terrorist organization are trying to prevent Sweden from joining NATO. Sweden will either bow to them or keep its promises,” he said.

The head of Turkish diplomacy emphasized that his country will continue talks with Sweden and its co-candidate, Finland, in their bid for NATO membership and they will soon have a meeting, which will likely take place in Brussels.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said relations with Turkey are important and condemned the incident as shameless. “The government understands that Turkey is reacting,” he said in a statement. “The implementation of the memorandum continues.”

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson told TV4 today that this action is “extremely serious” and that he considers it sabotage against his country’s NATO membership application. Police said they were unaware of the incident until it was over.

Ankara has said Sweden needs to take a clearer stance against what Turkey considers terrorists, mainly Kurdish fighters and the group it blames for the 2016 coup attempt.

Several Kurds live in exile in Sweden.

Turkey’s Anadolu news agency reported that an investigation into the incident was launched after Erdogan’s lawyer filed a legal request. “A criminal complaint has been filed with Ankara’s chief prosecutor’s office, demanding an investigation against the perpetrators,” Erdogan’s lawyer, Huseyn Aydin, tweeted.

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