Stockholm should distance itself from the YPG, the Kurdish militia of the People’s Protection Units in Syria. This is what the new Swedish Foreign Minister said this Saturday, November 5, before Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s visit to Turkey on Tuesday. The gesture is intended to appease Ankara, which has been blocking Sweden’s entry into NATO since mid-May. Turkey is asking Sweden for the extradition of a certain number of people whom it considers to be terrorists and it is the entire Kurdish community in Sweden, 150,000 strong, who feels taken hostage. Report at the Kurdish cultural center in the Swedish capital.
Mr. Bubbé welcomes visitors with tea. On the floor, a carpet from Rojhelat, Iranian Kurdistan, and on the shelves, Kurdish books, some of which are banned in Turkey.
Arriving in Sweden in the 1980s, Kurdo Baksi is a journalist. “I saw the list, the names of the 33 individuals that Turkey is asking Sweden to extradite. I know them all. There are ten Kurds, 23 Turks and four scenarios: political activists of the Kurdish cause (YPG); people linked to the Gülen organization; journalists ; members of the Turkish left and some very real criminals. This list is like goulash, Hungarian soup, a mixture of different elements put together, all labeled as “terrorists”. »
Thirty-eight Kurdish families also suddenly had their citizenship or residence permit files suspended.
“Disappointed”, Sabahat Karaduman, dentist of Kurdish origin, believes that Sweden bows its back in the face of Turkish blackmail. “Sweden should say to Turkey: ‘Stop! We have our definition of terrorism and human rights. If these people are considered terrorists according to our Constitution, then we will do something.’ »
After having re-authorized arms sales to Turkey, Sweden is now verbalizing its distancing from the Kurds of Syria.
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