For the primary time in its historical past, Sweden will strive a suspect accused of extorting cash for the PKK terror group, in line with native media.
Prosecutor Hans Ihrman stated the male suspect’s hyperlinks with the terrorist group have grow to be extra evident since he was detained in February, public broadcaster SVT reported Thursday.
According to Ihrman, the PKK has been broadly utilizing extortion to fund its actions in Sweden and different international locations for a very long time.
“Even though this is a single event, which is the basis of the investigation itself, most things point to the fact that this single event is part of a more extensive activity that has been carried out in organized forms for a long time,” he stated.
The suspect is being charged with tried aggravated extortion, aggravated weapons offense, and tried terrorist financing, the broadcaster famous.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom admitted final week that the PKK terrorist group’s in depth actions in his nation had been the rationale why Türkiye has blocked Stockholm’s accession to NATO.
SWEDEN’S BID TO JOIN NATO
After the Russia-Ukraine warfare started in February final yr, Sweden, along with Finland, determined to desert its decades-long army non-alignment coverage and apply for NATO membership.
Ankara, a NATO member for over 70 years, requested the 2 Nordic international locations to take concrete motion in opposition to terror teams such because the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind a 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye, to ensure that them to hitch the alliance.
In June final yr, Finland and Sweden signed a memorandum with Türkiye to handle Ankara’s safety considerations, and senior diplomats and officers from the three international locations held varied conferences to debate the implementation of a trilateral settlement.
Showing Türkiye’s assist for NATO’s open-door coverage, the Turkish parliament accepted Finland’s bid to hitch NATO on March 31, having stated earlier that Helsinki had executed what was essential for the membership, whereas Sweden nonetheless had work to do.
In its greater than 35-year terror marketing campaign in opposition to Türkiye, the PKK — listed as a terrorist group by Türkiye, the US, and EU — has been chargeable for the deaths of greater than 40,000 folks, together with ladies, youngsters, and infants.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
