SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Sweden denied on Tuesday it was providing any “financial assistance or military aid” to the Kurdish groups or entities in northern Syria.
The denial comes as delegations from Sweden and Finland are expected to meet with Turkish officials in Ankara on Wednesday, aiming to overcome Turkey’s opposition to their NATO bids.
After the Russian forces launched a military campaign on Ukraine on February 24, the Two Nordic countries have requested to formally join NATO, but their efforts failed when Turkey has refused to allow them.
Ankara says Sweden and Finland harbor people linked to groups it deems terrorists, namely the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and followers of Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey accuses of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.
“Sweden is a major humanitarian donor to the Syria crisis through global allocations to humanitarian actors,” Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde told the Aftonbladet newspaper, according to AP.
“Cooperation in northeastern Syria is carried out primarily through the United Nations and international organizations,” she said.
“Sweden does not provide targeted support to Syrian Kurds or to the political or military structures in northeastern Syria, but the population in these areas is, of course, taking part in these aid projects.”
Erdogan, who blocked NATO’s first decision to process the two countries’ request to join the military alliance on Wednesday, said Sweden had rejected Turkey’s request for the extradite of 30 people accused of connecting with Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) or Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Based on Article 10 of its founding treaty, no country is allowed to join NATO unless it is approved by all joined members, any decision to invite a country to join the Alliance is taken by the North Atlantic Council on the basis of consensus among all Allies.
