Sweden wants NATO membership, but no interference from Erdogan

• Rolien Creton

  correspondent Scandinavia

• Thom Edinger

  Foreign editor

What should have been a rapid entry into NATO for Finland and Sweden has been completely derailed in a short time. While Turkey continues to add to its list of demands and demands the extradition of people it accuses of terrorism, Sweden’s discomfort grows. And that leads to several protests.

After hanging an Erdogan mannequin and burning a Koran in Stockholm, joining the military alliance for Sweden at least until the Turkish elections in May seems illusory. All NATO member states, including Turkey, must agree.

The Swedish government condemned the actions, but this pragmatic attitude towards Turkey is chafing among the Swedish population: “It cannot be the case that Erdogan imposes his vision of freedom of expression on the Swedes,” said Helena Giertta, editor-in-chief of the Swedish trade journal. From Journalist.

The magazine has experience in publishing critical cartoons, such as the Charlie Hebdo cartoons (2015) and the ‘Mohammed cartoon’ by Swedish artist Lars Vilks (2007), who escaped a terrorist attack in 2015.

published this week From Journalist also the winning cartoon of the competition that the left-wing magazine Flamman previously had Unsubscribed, for the best satirical drawing of Erdogan. The winning cartoon is a paraphrase of the famous painting Saturn devours his sonby the Spanish painter Goya. Only the Greek god has been replaced by the Turkish president, who instead of his son devours a Kurdish fighter who tries to hold on to Erdogan’s mustache.

The editors of From Journalist quickly agreed that the winning cartoon also belongs in the trade magazine. The security measures in the magazine’s building have been tightened. Giertta has been threatened before and with the current Erdogan cartoon some more precautions were added. Giertta: “You’ve already noticed: it’s quite difficult to get in.”

The fact that the Swedish government continues to be conciliatory towards Erdogan also leads to frustration on the street. “The Swedish government has a cowardly attitude,” says 59-year-old Annika Forsmark. “I want Sweden to join NATO, but this is going too far. Turkey has already said yes to Sweden and will object afterwards.”

Forsmark finds the burning of a Koran last weekend by Swedish-Danish right-wing extremist Rasmus Paludan abhorrent, but she does not think Turkey can enforce a ban. “Erdogan is pedantic to us about democracy. That really makes people angry here.”

Forsmark is confident that Sweden’s NATO membership will eventually work out after the Turkish elections in May: “And if not, there’s nothing we can do about it in Sweden anyway.”

To give the annoyance a place, the Turkish president is regularly mocked in Sweden. Something that is sensitive for Erdogan, who previously fought a diplomatic conflict over satire in Germany and France, of which he was the target.

It means golden times for satire programs in Sweden. The TV program Swedish Newsor Swedish News, made an entire broadcast at the end of last year entitled ‘Veto-Turk’.

The Nordstream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea had just been blown up and Swedish News showed a photo of Erdogan in red swimming trunks. The gas bubbles in Nordstream were caused by the Turkish president who ate too much kebab, the presenter explained. After which a Kurdish-Swedish comedian took over and showed a picture of the Turkish president in underwear on all fours, comparing it to a Sultan bed from Ikea.

The Swedish Rojava Committee, a network that campaigns for Kurdish fighters in Syria and Turkey, is also planning new protests. The network organized the protest with the Erdogan mannequin hung upside down on a lamppost in front of Stockholm City Hall.

“A successful action,” said Tomas Pettersson, a 43-year-old historian and truck driver, who manages the webshop of the Rojava committee. “We are planning new spectacular actions.”

The new Swedish terror law, which will soon be adopted after years of preparation, will prohibit support for terrorist organizations in the form of fundraising. The Kurdish PKK is regarded as a terrorist movement in Sweden, as elsewhere.

This has consequences for the sale of merchandise that Tomas Pettersson manages, such as PKK flags and T-shirts. The bank account of the webshop will be closed by the authorities next week. Pettersson thinks he is now well known to the Swedish security service: “Otherwise they would not do their job properly.”