(Stockholm) The leader of the Swedish far right, the first formation of the parliamentary majority, on Wednesday described Turkish President Erdogan as an “Islamist dictator”, against the backdrop of an impasse over negotiations with Ankara over the entry of Sweden in NATO.
Jimmie Åkesson and his Sweden Democrats (SD) party are not in government, but are Conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s primary backing force in parliament.
The leader of the far-right party called not to give in too much to the Turkish president on NATO.
“We can’t go too far. Because it is above all an undemocratic system and a dictator that we have to deal with,” he said in a daily interview. Dagens Nyheter.
“I am a party leader of the anti-Islamist SD party, and I have strong opinions about an Islamist dictator like Erdogan. He is elected by the people, yes. But it is also the case of Putin, ”says the leader of the Swedish far-right formation.
These declarations come as the Swedish-Turkish negotiations concerning Sweden’s entry into NATO appear to be at an impasse. At the beginning of January, Mr Kristersson had felt that Ankara was asking for things that Stockholm could not and would not give it.
Turkey is “not in a position” to ratify Sweden’s membership of NATO as it stands, said Saturday Ibrahim Kalin, close adviser to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after a new diplomatic incident.
Last week, a pro-Kurdish group hung a mannequin bearing the image of Mr. Erdogan by the feet in front of Stockholm City Hall, denouncing a “dictator”.
Both the Turkish and Swedish governments strongly condemned the operation, sparking a debate in Sweden on the need not to sacrifice the freedoms of expression and demonstration.
Turkey has been blocking Sweden’s – as well as Finland’s – entry into NATO since May, accusing it of harboring on its territory members of the PKK and organizations allied to it, which it considers as terrorists.
Despite a memorandum of understanding signed at the end of June, Ankara judges its requests still unsatisfied, in particular for the extradition of Turkish citizens whom Turkey wants to prosecute for “terrorism”.
The Swedish government emphasizes that the Swedish judiciary has the last word in these cases and that the courts are independent.