The plan is simple: Sweden’s NATO membership is stopped by angering the president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that’s how I reasoned that Turkey would not ratify Sweden’s NATO membership.
So far, the idea even seems to work.
On Wednesday, Erdoğan announced that it is pointless for Sweden to wait for Turkey’s approval of its NATO membership as long as “terrorists” walk the streets.
This time, Erdoğan was angered by the June 4 demonstration in Stockholm.
The Turkish president reacted as expected
In the demonstration of a few hundred people, which made Erdoğan nervous, there were plenty of PKK flags of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Demonstrators also walked over a portrait of Erdoğan placed on the street.
– The reaction was exactly what we hoped for. Sure, he could have been even angrier and madder. But this supports our goal, which is to stop Sweden’s NATO membership, says the activist Tomas Pettersson in a phone interview from Stockholm.
Pettersson is the spokesman for the Alliance mot Nato network, which opposes NATO membership.
Opponents of NATO think that NATO is a military alliance that should be avoided. It would be best to remain non-aligned, because Sweden’s NATO membership only increases tensions in the Nordic region.
Left groups together
Tomas Pettersson says that a number of small left-wing groups gathered their forces last year to oppose Sweden’s NATO membership.
The Swedish parliament has approved the submission of the membership application and now Sweden is trying to persuade Turkey to ratify NATO membership.
Opponents of NATO are pinning their hopes on Erdoğan’s sensitivity.
– It seems that we succeed quite well. A normal leader of a big country would not react so strongly, but Erdoğan seems to be hurt. In Turkey, we would probably be in prison for defaming the president, Tomas Pettersson thinks.
Isn’t it wrong to use the authoritarian Erdoğan to stop the Diet’s democratic decision on NATO?
– In Sweden, NATO membership has not progressed democratically. Politicians have not wanted proper discussions. A referendum on joining NATO should have been held. I believe that the opponents would have won if it had been held, Pettersson explains.
According to opinion polls a clear majority of Swedes have a positive attitude towards NATO membership.
“Creativity in demonstrations”
NATO opponents have used creativity in recent protests, says Pettersson.
According to Pettersson, one example of this is a plastic carpet made of Erdoğan’s face that you can walk over.
In January, the hanging of an Erdoğan doll in the center of Stockholm caused great outrage in Turkey. In addition, protesters have projected PKK flags or other images that irritate Turkey on the wall of the Turkish embassy and on the facades of other buildings.
Pettersson has worked in Sweden’s Rojava Committee, which aims to support the Kurdish-led regime in northern Syria. In Turkey’s view, the regime is part of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the PKK.
– We have opposed Erdoğan for many years. Erdoğan is a monster that should be stopped, but if he stops Sweden’s NATO membership now, that’s fine with us. While we oppose Erdoğan, we manage to delay Sweden’s NATO membership.
Is Putin’s hand visible?
In Sweden, the leader of military intelligence Musti Thomas Nilsson has said that Putin’s Russia is trying to influence Sweden’s NATO process in many ways. The targets are both decision-makers and public opinion.
Nilsson doesn’t In an interview with Swedish TV directly wanted to take a stand on whether the anti-NATO demonstrations are somehow connected to outside parties.
Pettersson, the spokesman for NATO opponents, assures that the demonstrators are not in Russia’s business. National flags are not allowed at the demonstrations, so that the Russian flag does not appear among the flags.
According to Pettersson, there is no reason to believe that the Russian president Vladimir Putin would plan an attack on Sweden, in his opinion the NATO supporters are only scaring the people with the threat of Russia.
With the Koran against NATO
Danish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan briefly derailed Sweden’s NATO process by burning a Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm in January.
Another group opposed to NATO, the small cultural association Apallarkerna, wanted to repeat Paludani’s capture in February. The Koran was a secondary issue for the association, but the group saw Turkey’s outrage as a way to stop the NATO process.
Swedish the police did not give permission For burning the Koran. Police ban seems to have been illegal though.
Tomas Pettersson does not yet know – or does not want to say – the date of the next NATO demonstration. President Erdoğan may still have new reasons to get angry before Sweden’s NATO membership is ratified.