Ankara, , Oct 2 (Online): A suicide bombing that rocked Turkey\u2019s capital on Sunday risks complicating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization\u2019s efforts to bring in Sweden as a new member.
\nThe attack was carried out by the PKK, a Kurdish militant group whose activities in Sweden Turkey says go almost unchecked. A day before the bombing, Turkish authorities condemned Sweden for allowing PKK supporters to stage a rally in Stockholm against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.<\/p>\n
\u201cErdogan is likely to use the PKK\u2019s latest violence in the heart of the Turkish capital as leverage to press for his demands for Sweden to intensify its crackdown on the group\u2019s supporters,\u201d said Nihat Ali Ozcan, a strategist at the Economic Policy Research Foundation in Ankara.<\/p>\n
That would hardly be a surprise for Sweden, which applied for NATO membership following Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and was then told by Turkey that it had to first suppress the PKK\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n
The Turkish leader eventually lifted his veto at a meeting of the alliance in July, fueling expectations that Turkey\u2019s parliament would ratify his decision soon after the legislature reconvened this month.
\nThe weekend\u2019s attack by the PKK, deemed a terrorist organization by both the US and European Union, will likely spur Ankara to pose fresh objections to Sweden\u2019s NATO bid.
\nErdogan may seek other concessions from Turkey\u2019s western allies, such as reviving membership talks with the EU, easing visa restrictions for Turks and acquiring F-16 warplanes from the US, Ozcan said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ankara, , Oct 2 (Online): A suicide bombing that rocked Turkey\u2019s capital on Sunday risks complicating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization\u2019s efforts to bring in Sweden as a new member. The attack was carried out by the PKK, a Kurdish militant group whose activities in […]<\/p>\n
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