Published: Less than 30 min ago
Labeled as a terrorist, the PKK encourages and recruits for terrorism and conducts terrorist financing from Sweden, according to Säpo.
– It is a substantial amount, says Susanna Trehörning at Säpo.
The Kurdish guerrilla PKK has become a sticking point in the talks between Sweden and Turkey about membership in NATO.
Turkey has repeatedly criticized Sweden for harboring terrorists and stated that Sweden therefore does not belong in the defense alliance.
The Security Police (Säpo) does not assess that the PKK poses a direct attack threat to Sweden.
– On the other hand, we see that they conduct a supporting activity which can be solicitation, recruitment and terrorist financing to support terrorist activities, in another country or Sweden, says Susanna Trehörning, deputy head of counter-terrorism at Säpo.
Unknown number of sympathizers
She does not answer in more detail which people and groups engage in this.
– We look at actors who we judge potentially have an intention to commit this type of act. We start from the threat, not from finding them in society or any other structure, says Trehörning.
She does not say how many PKK sympathizers there are in Sweden.
Sweden’s NATO negotiator Oscar Stenström has emphasized that Sweden needs to work more clearly against the PKK and particularly pointed to terrorist financing.
Susanna Trehörning confirms that the PKK deals with significant terrorist financing in Sweden.
– I won’t go into exact sums, but it is a substantial amount.
TT: How do you work to stop it?
– We work continuously to gather information, create a state of knowledge and, where applicable, identify actors who actually commit these crimes and step in with some form of criminal investigation or some other form of reduction.
Arrested for terrorist financing
Recently, a man was arrested on suspicion of attempted terrorist financing by the PKK. It is the first time this has happened, previously it has mainly concerned the terrorist group IS.
The man is a Turkish citizen and fired shots outside a restaurant in Stockholm in January in an attempt at gross extortion.
TT: Is it a coincidence that this case is coming now?
– I would say that, we start from the threat, says Susanna Trehörning.
In the trilateral agreement between Sweden, Finland and Turkey, Sweden undertakes to strengthen cooperation with Turkish authorities to counter terrorism.
TT: Has Säpo intensified the cooperation with Turkey?
– In general, we do not direct our work according to the ongoing political context, but we start from the most serious threat and deal with it.
TT: Do you think that Säpo has done enough to deal with the PKK’s activities in Sweden?
– It is part of our business and has been for a long time, it is about decades. It has been high intensity at times and low intensity at times.
New terror law
This summer, a new law will be introduced that prohibits participation in terrorist organizations.
Säpo expects an increased number of preliminary investigations when the law comes into force. According to Susanna Trehörning, Säpo will be able to attack suspects at an earlier stage.
– We do not want to enter late in the radicalization process or when people are ready to commit an attack. Already when you start to get involved in a terrorist organization, we want to be able to be there and intervene, which this law provides the opportunity for, says Susanna Trehörning.
Turkey has been critical of waving PKK flags on Swedish streets.
TT: If a person wears a PKK symbol in a demonstration, can that be grounds for being suspected as a terrorist sympathizer?
– The basis for our work is, among other things, the rights protected by the constitution – that you can demonstrate, manifest, have opinions. It is not something the Security Police will look into. However, when we have to assess whether a person is a member of a terrorist organization or not, we will have to make a collective assessment of how we can prove it.
Facts
PKK
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was founded in 1978 as a Marxist party.
The movement’s goal was a Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey as well as adjacent parts of neighboring countries.
In 1984, the PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in the struggle for independence.
The PKK is labeled a terrorist by Turkey, the EU and the US.
In 2015, around 45,000 people were estimated to have been killed during 30 years of fighting between the Turkish military and the PKK.
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