STOCKHOLM

Despite Swedish officials’ pledges to crack down on the terrorist group PKK, sympathizers of the group promoted its terrorist propaganda on Friday in Sweden.

Videos were posted on social media showing the sympathizers hanging banners symbolizing the terror group on the city hall in the western city of Gothenburg.

Last week in the capital Stockholm, PKK/YPG sympathizers also attacked the memory of Türkiye's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

On Thursday the Turkish parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee postponed consideration of a measure approving Sweden's NATO accession protocol.

To join the alliance, which Sweden sought after Russia attacked nearby Ukraine, Stockholm has to have the approval of all current NATO members, including Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years.

"We have emphasized from the beginning of the process that Sweden, as our prospective ally, should consider our country's legitimate security concerns and act in the spirit of the alliance," Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar said.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU – has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

* Writing by Anadolu staff in Ankara