(Ankara) L’ambassadeur de Suède à Ankara a été convoqué lundi au ministère turc des Affaires étrangères pour protester contre la projection par des militants kurdes d’images sur la façade de l’ambassade de Turquie à Stockholm, a indiqué une source diplomatique turque.
« Nous avons fait part à l’ambassadeur de Suède de notre condamnation de la projection par des groupes en lien avec le PKK d’images de propagande terroriste et insultantes envers notre président […] on the building of our embassy in Stockholm”, detailed this source, on condition of anonymity.
This Turkish reaction follows the publication on Twitter on Monday of a video by the Swedish Committee for Rojava, which shows its support for the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main Kurdish militia in Syria, considered a terrorist organization by Ankara.
This undated video shows images projected on the facade of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm which denounce supposed links between Ankara and the Islamic State group as well as the use – also supposed – of chemical weapons by the Turkish army against Kurdish fighters.
Ankara asked that “the perpetrators of these acts be identified and that the necessary measures be taken”, according to the Turkish diplomatic source.
Turkey accuses Sweden and Finland, candidates for NATO, of leniency towards the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and its allies such as the YPG.
Ankara has blocked the entry of the two Nordic countries into the Atlantic Alliance since May, and signed a memorandum of understanding with them in June linking their membership to their fight against Kurdish movements and their supporters on their soil.
On a visit to Ankara in early November, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson promised to respond to the concerns expressed by Turkey in its fight against terrorism, in order to remove any obstacle to its entry into NATO.
The Swedish ambassador’s summons comes as Ankara threatened on Monday to launch a ground operation in Syria, after a series of airstrikes against Kurdish positions in Syria and Iraq and rocket attacks on Turkish soil.