Supporters of PKK terrorist group hold illegal demonstration in Swedish capital

By Atila Altuntas

STOCKHOLM (AA) - Supporters of the PKK/YPG terrorist group staged an unauthorized demonstration in Stockholm on Friday.

Terror supporters displayed a PKK banner over a bridge in the city's Kungsgatan street, chanting slogans praising the terrorist organization.

Video footage posted later on a social media account affiliated with the terror group showed that preparations were underway to hold a planned large-scale demonstration on Jan. 21 in the Swedish capital.

Sweden and Helsinki struck a deal with Ankara in June, which requires them not to provide support to the PKK and its offshoots, or to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye. Ankara has also called for the extradition of terror suspects.

Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have warned that Türkiye will not give the nod to their memberships until its concerns are addressed.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg recently visited Türkiye to discuss the membership bids, which require unanimous approval from the alliance's 30 members.

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