Sweden’s new government will distance itself from the YPG Kurdish militia, while trying to get Turkey to allow it to join the NATO alliance, as the Swedish foreign minister said on Saturday.
The Syrian Kurdish militia YPG and the political wing of the PYD see Turkey as another part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which launched an insurgency against Turkey in 1980. identified as a terrorist group.
Sweden, the United States and several other NATO allies have supported the YPG in its fight against ISIS, However, Turkey has vowed to block Sweden’s request to join NATO, if Sweden does not stop supporting the armed group.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told Swedish Radio that Sweden’s main goal is to become a member of NATO.
This action is being taken just a short time before Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson travels to Ankara to try to persuade Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to allow Sweden to join NATO.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO earlier this year, as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The request was approved by 28 of the 30 NATO member countries. Finland and Sweden said last week that they hope that Hungary will also give up its opposition to the request of these countries to join NATO.
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