The puppet representation of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was hanged upside down outside Stockholm’s city hall on Thursday morning, has been met with strong criticism from both Turkey and Sweden’s government representatives.
Speaker Andreas Norlén’s visit to Ankara has been stopped, a criminal investigation has been opened in Turkey, a police report has been made in Sweden and both Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) and Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M) have strongly condemned the move, which they believe endangers Sweden’s security and also may affect the Swedish NATO application.
Turkish media and politicians claim that the action was carried out by the PKK, which is classified as a terrorist by the US and the EU, and thus also Sweden. The action is said to have been carried out by the Rojava Committees, “a network for solidarity and exchange with the revolutionary movement throughout Kurdistan”.
A spokesperson for the activist network tells SVT Nyheter that the reactions were expected.
– We are not very surprised, but you might be disappointed. The Swedish constitution should apply and Swedish politicians should stand up to the right to protest. They might say it’s disgusting. But they also have to defend that Swedish laws apply in Sweden, Turkish laws do not apply here, says the spokesperson, who wishes to remain anonymous.
“Wants to limit freedom of expression”
He explains that the action was, among other things, a way to draw attention to Turkey’s pressure on Sweden and the Swedish legislation. And to raise future legislative proposals that risk restricting Swedish freedom of expression.
– What Turkey wants is to limit freedom of expression in Sweden. That is a goal of the NATO process. And we have said that from the beginning. The conclusion is here, Sweden has made restrictions on Swedish democracy to appease Turkey, says the spokesperson.
According to the Rojava Committees, the hanging of the doll alludes to how Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was hanged in Milan in 1945.
It can easily be interpreted as a threat to an individual. How do you see it?
– What we did was a purely symbolic protest with a doll where we draw parallels with how many dictators end their days after popular uprisings. If you think that this is a real threat, you either have a distorted view of reality or you are just trying to make political points, he says and continues:
“Call to Erdogan”
– It is a call to Erdogan to choose a democratic path instead. It is bizarre that we hang up a small doll in Sweden, that it would be a threat to Erdogan.
But might it not encourage others to carry out such a violent act?
– Then you get into the question of whether it is wrong to overthrow dictators? But you can be very sensitive and think that this is a real threat. We don’t see ourselves as such an influential organization; that what we say on Twitter in Sweden will get Erdogan deposed.