Erdoğan tells NATO Sweden must stop terrorist protests

Sweden must stop protests by supporters of terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Stockholm to get a green light on its NATO membership bid, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan told NATO's Secretary-General in a phone call on Sunday.

Erdoğan told Stoltenberg that Türkiye had a constructive attitude, but Sweden's change of terrorism laws to meet demands from Ankara was "meaningless" while PKK supporters hold protests in the country, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.

During the call, Erdoğan also told Stoltenberg that Türkiye hopes that the recent developments in Russia will be a new milestone on the path to a just peace in Ukraine.

"It was pointed out that the end of tensions in Russia "prevented the occurrence of irrevocable humanitarian tragedies in the Ukrainian field," the statement said.

Further, it was underlined that "the injustices faced within the context of the F-35s and the attempts to associate Türkiye's requests about the F-16s with Sweden's membership would harm NATO and its security rather than Türkiye."

The paramilitary Wagner group accused Russian forces on Friday of attacking its fighters and the group subsequently crossed from Ukraine into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. In response, the Federal Security Service in Russia initiated a criminal case against Wagner for "armed rebellion." Russian President Vladimir Putin labeled Wagner's uprising as an act of "treason."

Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin later claimed his fighters decided to turn back to avoid bloodshed when they were 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Moscow, while Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he held talks with the Wagner head with Putin's accord, and Prigozhin accepted a de-escalation deal. Prigozhin has, in recent months, repeatedly accused the Russian Defense Ministry and Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu of not supplying sufficient arms to the paramilitary group.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK-listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU-has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Turkish officials have said Sweden tolerated and even supported PKK members on its soil, and that steps taken to change this need to be proven before it joins the alliance.