The Swedish Prosecution Authority on Friday brought charges on "attempted terrorist financing" against a Turkish national responsible for a shooting attack in Stockholm earlier this year who they believe is linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th June, 2023) The Swedish Prosecution Authority on Friday brought charges on "attempted terrorist financing" against a Turkish national responsible for a shooting attack in Stockholm earlier this year who they believe is linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey. Stockholm's alleged support for the PKK was the reason Ankara has cited to block the Nordic country's NATO membership application.
"The prosecutor has today indicted a man in his 40s suspected of attempted serious extortion, serious weapons crime and attempted financing of terrorism. The investigation supports the suspicions that the man acted on behalf of the PKK," the prosecution authority said in a statement.
The man came from Turkey to Sweden a few years ago and was arrested in January after making threats and firing a gun outside a restaurant in Stockholm, Swedish channel SVT reported.
In early June, Sweden's Supreme Court approved the extradition of another PKK supporter to Turkey.
Sweden, together with Finland, submitted its NATO bid in May 2022, several months after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine. Finland's application has been ratified by all 30 members of the alliance. Sweden's bid is still pending approval by Hungary and Turkey, with the accession process stalled, among other things, due to recent Quran-burning protests in Stockholm and its relations with the PKK. Ankara refuses to ratify the Nordic country's bid, demanding Stockholm extradite Kurds to whom it had granted asylum.
