STOCKOLM – Thousands of people demonstrated in Stockholm on Sunday against NATO, Turkish President Erdogan and the new Swedish terror law. The police gave permission for the assembly despite Turkish demands that it be stopped, citing the new legislation. A demonstration train several hundred meters long wound its way from Norra Bantorget to Mynttorget on Sunday afternoon. According to the police’s assessment, around 500 people participated. Many waved the flag of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
The organizer Alliance against NATO consists of several organizations, including the pro-Kurdish Rojava Committees. What the groups have in common is that they oppose Swedish membership in the defense alliance, Turkish President Erdogan and the expanded Swedish terror law, which makes it prohibited to “promote, strengthen or support” a terrorist organization.
Tomas Pettersson, spokesperson for the Alliance against NATO and a member of the Rojava committees, hopes that the demonstration will further slow down the Swedish NATO process. He believes that the government wants to use the new law to arrest Kurds in Sweden.
– They want to show them off as trophies for Erdogan so that he will let Sweden into NATO.
Protester Gunilla Nilsson says she came to stand up for freedom of expression and organization, which she believes the new law restricts.
– I may not be alive when the consequences of it begin to be seen for real, but it will affect future generations, she says and continues. I am not surprised that Turkey has already started making demands on Sweden due to the law.
Earlier this week, the Rojava Committees angered Turkey when activists projected a video with the PKK’s flag on the Riksdag House in Stockholm. The action at the Riksdag building led Turkish government officials to demand that Sunday’s demonstration be stopped, using the new terror legislation as a basis.
The EU, the US and Turkey have classified the PKK as a terrorist organization. However, the UN does not. During the Swedish NATO process, Turkey has repeatedly criticized Sweden for being a haven for terrorists and demanded a tougher crackdown on PKK supporters.
However, the police considered that Sunday’s demonstration constituted a constitutionally protected expression of opinion – and was not affected by the terrorism law.
– The PKK is an organization classified as a terrorist by the EU and Sweden, but showing the symbol of the organization is not considered a crime according to terrorism legislation, said Mats Eriksson from the Stockholm Police.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson commented on the Turkish demand in Ekot earlier this week.
“We make a law, then it’s the police, prosecutors and courts who make decisions, it’s not my business to tell you how to apply the law, Ulf Kristersson told Ekot.”
Organizer Tomas Pettersson thinks it is good that the police made it clear in advance that no one would be arrested for carrying a PKK flag.
The PKK is classified as a terrorist by the EU – how do you feel about waving their symbol?
The PKK is not a terrorist organization, there is a political gain for Turkey and other stakeholders to keep them on the list, says Tomas Pettersson.
