The Syrian Kurdish YPG militia and its political offshoot PYD are considered by Turkey to be extensions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which launched an insurgency against Turkey in 1980 and is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union . Sweden, along with the United States and many other NATO countries, has supported the YPG in the fight against the Islamic State. However, Turkey has vowed to block Sweden’s application to join NATO if it does not stop supporting the militia group. “There is a very close connection between these organizations and the PKK…to be good for the relationship between us and Turkey,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström told public broadcaster Swedish Radio. “The primary goal is for Sweden to join NATO,” he said. The move comes just days before Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is due to travel to Ankara to try to persuade Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to let Sweden join the military alliance. Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO earlier this year as a direct consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The application has been approved by 28 of the 30 NATO countries. The Nordic countries said this week they were optimistic that Hungary would also withdraw its objections. Reporting by Johan Ahlander Editing by Mark Potter Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
