A Swedish court on Thursday found a Kurd guilty of attempting to aid Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The 41-years old man whose name is Yahya Gungor, came from the kurdish city of Diyarbekir. Kurdaily has learned that the convicted man would be deported to Turkey immediately after serving his sentence.
According to the Swedish media sources, The Kurdish man is believed to convicted of the crime of attempting to forcefully persuade a Kurdish businessman to provide funding for the PKK, while holding him at gunpoint outside a bar in the Swedish capital Stockholm. Judge Mans Wigen said Gungor would be jailed for four years and six months.
This marks the first utilization of Sweden’s updated counter-terrorism legislation in a case pertaining to the PKK. Turkey has persistently urged Stockholm to crack down on the PKK members.
Kurdish community in Sweden strongly protest against the Swedish court and consider this action as attempt to end Turkey’s veto of Sweden’s application to join the NATO.
The process of Sweden’s bid to join NATO has encountered a delay primarily because Turkey has demanded the extradition of numerous Swedish Kurds it perceives as “terrorists”.
Sweden has amended its constitution and introduced new anti-terrorism legislation and removed restrictions on arms exports to Turkey and stepped up counterr-terorrism operation, including against PKK, an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey.
Turkey and its Western allies consider the PKK a terrorist organisation.
In June last year, Ankara, Stockholm, and Helsinki signed a memorandum in which Sweden and Finland said they would address Turkey’s concerns. In December, Stockholm extradited a Kurdish refugee, Mahmut Tat, to Turkey for his alleged links to the PKK.
Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey will not back down from its demands of Sweden in return for allowing Sweden to join NATO.
