Türkiye froze the local assets of 20 organizations and 62 individuals based in Australia, Japan and a number of European countries, citing alleged ties with the PKK terrorist organization, a decision published in the country’s Official Gazette showed on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Treasury and Finance said the decision was “based on the existence of reasonable grounds” that they committed acts falling within the scope of the law on preventing the financing of terrorism.
The list included three organizations from Germany and another three from Switzerland. It also named two organizations each from Australia, Italy and Japan.
Other affected organizations were in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom and Iraq-Syria.
A spokesperson for “Insamlingsstiftelsen Kurdiska Roda Solen,” the one organization on the list in Sweden, claimed they are a “humanitarian aid organization” with no operations and no assets in Türkiye.
Sweden as well as Finland requested to join NATO in May last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan raised objections to both requests, citing the Nordic nations’ protection of terrorists, as well as their defense trade embargoes. Türkiye endorsed Finland’s bid in April, while the decision on Sweden’s membership is in the hands of the Turkish Parliament.
Türkiye has been pushing Swedish authorities to take concrete steps to alleviate its security concerns, especially regarding support for terrorist groups such as the PKK and FETÖ, whose 2016 defeated coup bid claimed over 200 lives.
Along with Hungary, Türkiye is yet to ratify Sweden’s accession protocol, as membership requires unanimous approval of all NATO members.
In its nearly 40-year-long terrorist campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of some 40,000 people, including innocent women, children and infants.
Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who met Tuesday with his U.S. counterpart Antony Blinken and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, provided a likely timeline for the Nordic country to formally join the alliance, which could take place before the end of the year, a senior U.S. State Department official said.
Source: Daily Sabah
