"A fish only comes to its senses when caught in a net," is a Turkish proverb, and it pretty much describes the Turkish government's position on the possible NATO accession of Sweden and Finland - or at least what leaks out of it .

In the past few days, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu have repeatedly accused the two states of supporting terrorist organizations, more precisely: the Kurdish Workers' Party PKK, the Gülen movement and the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria.

Anna Lena Ripperger

Editor in Politics.

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Even if the West's attitude towards these organizations is different, Ankara has been bothered by it for a long time.

Now that the two northern European countries are desperate to join the defensive alliance in the face of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, the Turkish government seems to have found a lever to bring the "fish" to their senses.

center of the Gülen movement

The accusation of being a "hotbed" for terrorists is probably aimed primarily at Sweden, even if Finland was always mentioned by the representatives of the Turkish government.

There is a relatively large Turkish minority in Sweden. In addition to migrant workers, these are mainly people who sought refuge in the country for political reasons, for example after the military coup of 1980.

The number of Kurds living in Sweden is estimated at around 100,000, six members of parliament have Kurdish roots.

Well-known exile intellectuals live in the Scandinavian country, and Stockholm is also one of the centers of the Gülen movement, which the Turkish government blames for the failed coup attempt of 2016.

From there, the Gülen movement operates channels on social media, among other things, that spread messages in the interests of the organization, says Kristian Brakel, head of the Istanbul office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation.

This should be a thorn in Ankara's side.

Unlike in the case of the Gülen movement, Sweden is not a main country of operation for the PKK in Europe, even if the organization has structures there, says Brakel.

Belgium and Germany are more important for the terrorist organization.

The Turkish state news agency Anadolu recently listed a whole range of alleged criminal activities by the PKK in Sweden and Finland: arms and drug trafficking, theft and extortion.

Demonstrations by the PKK and its sub-organizations would also be tolerated.

Niinistö and Linde: See PKK as a terrorist organization

Sweden and Finland themselves, however, present the situation differently. The PKK is seen as a terrorist organization and its efforts are condemned, said Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde.

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said the PKK was banned in Finland because it was on the EU's terror list.

"If that was too unclear, we can write that again in capital letters," he added.

The Kurdish Workers' Party has killed more than 40,000 people in terrorist attacks in Turkey over the past 40 years.

There have often been disagreements between Stockholm and Ankara over the YPG militia, an important US ally in the fight against "Islamic State" in Syria.

Turkey regards the militia as an offshoot of the PKK.

She was therefore not pleased when the Swedish foreign minister met a Syrian delegation in 2021 – according to Turkey, they were YPG fighters.

Linde denied this and said it was representatives of civil Kurdish organizations.

The fact that Sweden imposed an arms embargo on Ankara in 2019 after the Turkish military invaded northern Syria is likely to play a role in the conflict over the country's possible NATO accession, as is Swedish financial aid for the Kurdish-controlled part of northern Syria.

In order to dispel Turkish doubts, a Swedish-Finnish delegation is to hold talks in Ankara.

How successful they will be will also depend on the Turkish foreign minister's trip to Washington this Wednesday.

However, Erdogan's words to Finland and Sweden on Monday evening did not indicate a great willingness to negotiate: "Will they come to convince us?

If so, no offense, they shouldn't bother," he said.