In order to let a Swedish NATO application through, Turkey requires Sweden to “cut ties” with the PKK, according to Ambassador Hakki Emre Yunt. He goes far in his accusations of Swedish links to the Kurdish organisation.
– ”The PKK has links to some members of parliament. They work against Turkey in parliament all the time. They pressure the Swedish government to take a negative stance towards Turkey”, says Emre Yunt.
When asked which MPs he is talking about, the ambassador says: I can only mention Amineh Kakabaveh, because she had an agreement with the Social Democratic Party to support them.
Kakabaveh was elected to parliament as a left-wing party member but has been a political wild card since 2019 after leaving the party. In November, she cast her final vote when the Riksdag released Magdalena Andersson as prime minister. The agreement with the S included a promise of deeper cooperation with the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the largest political party among Syrian Kurds.
The Social Democrats’ party secretary Tobias Baudin wrote in a statement on 24 November:
“That freedom fighters who fought or sympathise with the YPG/YPJ or PYD are classified by some state actors as terrorists is unacceptable.”
The YPG, which is an armed wing of the PYD, took the lead as the West’s ally in the war effort against the ISIS terrorists in Syria.
Turkey equates the YPG with the PKK and the Social Democrats’ proclaimation has now come back to haunt them since Sweden applied for membership in Nato.
– ”This should have been a scandal. To have an agreement to act against Turkey and support the terrorist organizations from Sweden”, says Hakki Emre Yunt.
He calls Amineh Kakabaveh’s cooperation with the Social Democrats “undemocratic” and points out that Kakabaveh has been active against Turkey for many years.
– ”We need to see action from the Swedish government on these issues.”
Ankara has demanded the extradition to Turkey of some 30 people whom Erdogan calls terrorists, including supporters of the PKK and the Gülen movement, according to the ambassador.
Some of them are Swedish citizens, according to the ambassador.
– ”Most of them are not, they may have been granted refugee status, but I am sure they are not citizens yet.”
TT: Is Kakabaveh one of those you want to see extradited?
– ”If it is possible, yes. But I don’t know, she must be a Swedish citizen? It’s difficult to extradite your own citizens. But that’s up to the Swedish government.”
Hakki Emre Yunt also accuses several Swedish MPs of having links to the PKK, without mentioning specific names. He points broadly:
– ”For example, the Left Party acted as if they represented the PKK in parliament. Last week they said Sweden should not apply because of Turkey.”
Michael Sahlin, a former ambassador to Turkey who now works on Turkey issues at the international peace research institute SIPRI, among other places, is surprised that the ambassador would go so far as to name a member of parliament whom he wants to see extradited.
– ”I would think that this makes it even harder to imagine the government retreating on any key issues. It becomes quite impossible if an ambassador makes this kind of additional demand on the spot. That really creates deadlocks.
Sahlin says that the attention surrounding the conflict within Turkey has become greater than he had expected, and that the pressure in the Turkish media could put pressure on politicians to take even more action.”
– ”There’s a bit of an unfortunate spiral in this right now. So it is of course in Sweden’s interest to be able to hold calm talks.”
The solution going forward is “creative diplomacy”, he believes.
– ”Trying to take the spotlight off Sweden and broaden the discussion, and initiate even more targeted talks within a common Natoram. It’s about saving face for the regime in Turkey, and it’s in Sweden’s interest that this happens, but not at too great a sacrifice for its own sake. But it is very difficult now to point to any simple, quick solutions.”
Does Turkey understand that their demands sound crazy?
And turkish nationalists say they don’t hate Kurds
While I don’t agree with her politics, extraditing a Swedish citizen is beyond fucking absurd and won’t happen – Turkey knows this.
They are literally resorting to extortion to get what they want.
Turkey wouldn’t have these issues with Kurds if Turks weren’t assholes towards all minorities, resorting to genocide and discrimination. Why else would Kurds not obey? Why doesn’t other countries have issues with minorities to the same extent as Turkey? Maybe because there’s something fundamentally wrong with Turkish society?
They keep blaming other societies, yet their own is fully flawed.
So that’s the favor, or one of the favors that Turkey wants to accept Sweden in NATO.
The MPs response: ”I am a Swedish citizen and I am democratically elected to represent the citizens of Sweden in the parliament. It is the ambassador who should be sent back to Turkey. But it’s not only the government that needs to act. The opposition parties and leaders across the political spectrum must make it clear that Sweden will not grovel to the Islamists in Ankara.”
As unrealistic as the demand is, while I see some here saying “wishful thinking,” this to me seems more like deliberately setting an unachievable bar to conceal and achieve a less popular goal. Entirely suspicion, nothing to base it on, hopefully those more informed than me will hash out some comments, but ultimately I am left wondering if Erdoğan accepts bribe payments in rubles?
> Ambassador backs away from statement on Kakabaveh
>
> Turkey’s Swedish ambassador, Hakki Emre Yunt, said in an interview with TT that he wanted to see Member of Parliament Amineh Kakabaveh extradited to Turkey.
>
> In the interview, the ambassador made several accusations against Swedish parliamentary politicians and claimed that they had connections to the organization PKK classified by the USA and the EU.
>
> — I can only mention Amineh Kakabaveh, because she had an agreement with the Social Democratic Party to support them.
>
> Ankara has demanded that some 30 people, whom Erdogan calls terrorists, be extradited to Turkey. According to the ambassador, these are supporters of the PKK and the Gülen movement.
>
> Some of them are Swedish citizens, according to the ambassador.
>
> — Most of them are not, they may have been granted refugee status, but I’m sure they are not citizens yet.
>
> Is Kakabaveh one of those you want to see betrayed?
>
> — If possible, yes, the ambassador told TT.
>
> But when Ekot later talks to Hakki Emre Yunt, it sounds different. He tells the radio that Kakabaveh is not on the extradition list and that “it must be a misunderstanding”.
>
> On her Instagram, Amineh Kakabaveh writes: “I am a Swedish citizen and I have been elected to represent Sweden’s citizens in the Riksdag. It is the ambassador who should be sent back to Turkey”.
*Yawn* More clickbait headlines
Why doesn’t NATO kick Turkey out? As long as the country is ruled by a bunch of lunatics, membership should at least be suspended.
Turkey is asshole.
Bir türk olarak tüm samimiyetimle yazıyorum, Kürtler şimdi size şirin görünebilir. İstediklerini almak için her kılığa girebilirler. Fakat zamanla göreceksiniz baş belası olacaklar. Tüm avrupa için kürtler, araplar bir tehdit haline gelecek. O zaman bizi anlayacaksınız, iş işten geçmiş olacak..
The only constants in Turkish politics: chronic insecurity regarding Kurds or the hermit Gulen, who is so mythical he is more powerful than Soros and the Illuminati combined.
Is anything from Erdogan’s Turkey meant to be taken seriously?
14 comments
#Translation
In order to let a Swedish NATO application through, Turkey requires Sweden to “cut ties” with the PKK, according to Ambassador Hakki Emre Yunt. He goes far in his accusations of Swedish links to the Kurdish organisation.
– ”The PKK has links to some members of parliament. They work against Turkey in parliament all the time. They pressure the Swedish government to take a negative stance towards Turkey”, says Emre Yunt.
When asked which MPs he is talking about, the ambassador says: I can only mention Amineh Kakabaveh, because she had an agreement with the Social Democratic Party to support them.
Kakabaveh was elected to parliament as a left-wing party member but has been a political wild card since 2019 after leaving the party. In November, she cast her final vote when the Riksdag released Magdalena Andersson as prime minister. The agreement with the S included a promise of deeper cooperation with the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the largest political party among Syrian Kurds.
The Social Democrats’ party secretary Tobias Baudin wrote in a statement on 24 November:
“That freedom fighters who fought or sympathise with the YPG/YPJ or PYD are classified by some state actors as terrorists is unacceptable.”
The YPG, which is an armed wing of the PYD, took the lead as the West’s ally in the war effort against the ISIS terrorists in Syria.
Turkey equates the YPG with the PKK and the Social Democrats’ proclaimation has now come back to haunt them since Sweden applied for membership in Nato.
– ”This should have been a scandal. To have an agreement to act against Turkey and support the terrorist organizations from Sweden”, says Hakki Emre Yunt.
He calls Amineh Kakabaveh’s cooperation with the Social Democrats “undemocratic” and points out that Kakabaveh has been active against Turkey for many years.
– ”We need to see action from the Swedish government on these issues.”
Ankara has demanded the extradition to Turkey of some 30 people whom Erdogan calls terrorists, including supporters of the PKK and the Gülen movement, according to the ambassador.
Some of them are Swedish citizens, according to the ambassador.
– ”Most of them are not, they may have been granted refugee status, but I am sure they are not citizens yet.”
TT: Is Kakabaveh one of those you want to see extradited?
– ”If it is possible, yes. But I don’t know, she must be a Swedish citizen? It’s difficult to extradite your own citizens. But that’s up to the Swedish government.”
Hakki Emre Yunt also accuses several Swedish MPs of having links to the PKK, without mentioning specific names. He points broadly:
– ”For example, the Left Party acted as if they represented the PKK in parliament. Last week they said Sweden should not apply because of Turkey.”
Michael Sahlin, a former ambassador to Turkey who now works on Turkey issues at the international peace research institute SIPRI, among other places, is surprised that the ambassador would go so far as to name a member of parliament whom he wants to see extradited.
– ”I would think that this makes it even harder to imagine the government retreating on any key issues. It becomes quite impossible if an ambassador makes this kind of additional demand on the spot. That really creates deadlocks.
Sahlin says that the attention surrounding the conflict within Turkey has become greater than he had expected, and that the pressure in the Turkish media could put pressure on politicians to take even more action.”
– ”There’s a bit of an unfortunate spiral in this right now. So it is of course in Sweden’s interest to be able to hold calm talks.”
The solution going forward is “creative diplomacy”, he believes.
– ”Trying to take the spotlight off Sweden and broaden the discussion, and initiate even more targeted talks within a common Natoram. It’s about saving face for the regime in Turkey, and it’s in Sweden’s interest that this happens, but not at too great a sacrifice for its own sake. But it is very difficult now to point to any simple, quick solutions.”
Does Turkey understand that their demands sound crazy?
And turkish nationalists say they don’t hate Kurds
While I don’t agree with her politics, extraditing a Swedish citizen is beyond fucking absurd and won’t happen – Turkey knows this.
They are literally resorting to extortion to get what they want.
Turkey wouldn’t have these issues with Kurds if Turks weren’t assholes towards all minorities, resorting to genocide and discrimination. Why else would Kurds not obey? Why doesn’t other countries have issues with minorities to the same extent as Turkey? Maybe because there’s something fundamentally wrong with Turkish society?
They keep blaming other societies, yet their own is fully flawed.
So that’s the favor, or one of the favors that Turkey wants to accept Sweden in NATO.
The MPs response: ”I am a Swedish citizen and I am democratically elected to represent the citizens of Sweden in the parliament. It is the ambassador who should be sent back to Turkey. But it’s not only the government that needs to act. The opposition parties and leaders across the political spectrum must make it clear that Sweden will not grovel to the Islamists in Ankara.”
As unrealistic as the demand is, while I see some here saying “wishful thinking,” this to me seems more like deliberately setting an unachievable bar to conceal and achieve a less popular goal. Entirely suspicion, nothing to base it on, hopefully those more informed than me will hash out some comments, but ultimately I am left wondering if Erdoğan accepts bribe payments in rubles?
He has retracted this statement. SVT writes (https://www.svt.se/nyheter/utrikes/finland-ger-natobesked ):
> Ambassador backs away from statement on Kakabaveh
>
> Turkey’s Swedish ambassador, Hakki Emre Yunt, said in an interview with TT that he wanted to see Member of Parliament Amineh Kakabaveh extradited to Turkey.
>
> In the interview, the ambassador made several accusations against Swedish parliamentary politicians and claimed that they had connections to the organization PKK classified by the USA and the EU.
>
> — I can only mention Amineh Kakabaveh, because she had an agreement with the Social Democratic Party to support them.
>
> Ankara has demanded that some 30 people, whom Erdogan calls terrorists, be extradited to Turkey. According to the ambassador, these are supporters of the PKK and the Gülen movement.
>
> Some of them are Swedish citizens, according to the ambassador.
>
> — Most of them are not, they may have been granted refugee status, but I’m sure they are not citizens yet.
>
> Is Kakabaveh one of those you want to see betrayed?
>
> — If possible, yes, the ambassador told TT.
>
> But when Ekot later talks to Hakki Emre Yunt, it sounds different. He tells the radio that Kakabaveh is not on the extradition list and that “it must be a misunderstanding”.
>
> On her Instagram, Amineh Kakabaveh writes: “I am a Swedish citizen and I have been elected to represent Sweden’s citizens in the Riksdag. It is the ambassador who should be sent back to Turkey”.
*Yawn* More clickbait headlines
Why doesn’t NATO kick Turkey out? As long as the country is ruled by a bunch of lunatics, membership should at least be suspended.
Turkey is asshole.
Bir türk olarak tüm samimiyetimle yazıyorum, Kürtler şimdi size şirin görünebilir. İstediklerini almak için her kılığa girebilirler. Fakat zamanla göreceksiniz baş belası olacaklar. Tüm avrupa için kürtler, araplar bir tehdit haline gelecek. O zaman bizi anlayacaksınız, iş işten geçmiş olacak..
The only constants in Turkish politics: chronic insecurity regarding Kurds or the hermit Gulen, who is so mythical he is more powerful than Soros and the Illuminati combined.
Is anything from Erdogan’s Turkey meant to be taken seriously?
Kick Turkey out of Swedish parliament