Turkiye summons Swedish diplomat over 'terrorist propaganda' demonstrations

Ankara, July 24 Turkiye's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Swedish charges d'affaires in Ankara over the "terrorist propaganda" staged by the supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during a protest on Thursday in the Swedish city of Gothenburg.

Ankara also conveyed its "strong reaction" to another demonstration held on the same day in Stockholm, the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted anonymous Turkish diplomatic sources.

"In this context, our expectation that the perpetrators of the incident will be identified, necessary legal and judicial measures will be taken, and concrete steps will be taken in light of the commitments recorded in the tripartite memorandum have been emphasised," said the sources.

Finland and Sweden's NATO bid was initially blocked by Turkiye, which accused them of supporting anti-Türkiye groups as they rejected Ankara's extradition requests for suspects affiliated with the PKK and the Gulen Movement, Xinhua news agency reported.

On June 28, Turkiye, Sweden and Finland agreed on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) before Ankara lifted its veto ahead of the NATO Madrid summit.

In the MoU, Finland and Sweden pledged to support Turkiye's fight against terrorism, and agreed to address Turkiye's "pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly".

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and the EU, has been rebelling against the Turkish government for more than three decades.

The Gulen Movement is led by and named after the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen. The Turkish government accuses the movement of masterminding the 2016 failed coup in which at least 250 people were killed.