The Autonomous Administration of North-East Syria (AANES) shared a public statement condemning Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstr枚m鈥檚 allegations of links between Kurdish-led groups in Syria and outlawed guerrilla forces, Hawar News Agency.
Tobias Billstr枚m told Swedish Radio last week that Kurdish-led groups in northern Syria were 鈥渢oo closely connected鈥 to the Kurdistan Workers鈥 Party (PKK), which Turkey and NATO refer to as a terrorist entity.
This connection, Billstr枚m said, was harming Sweden鈥檚 primary foreign policy objective of joining NATO, Reuters .
The Kurdish-led People鈥檚 Protection Units (YPG) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) formed the backbone of the United States-led international coalition to fight Islamic State, suffering thousands of casualties in the process.
Turkey views the YPG and the SDF as extensions of the PKK, and has launched a series of military operations against their positions in northern Syria. Both groups, and the AANES that governs areas controlled by the Kurdish-led forces, deny the connection.
鈥淭hanks to our sacrifices, international states have supported our people, which shows that our struggle is a struggle for stability and peace for the world and humanity,鈥 the AANES said.
鈥淚t is saddening to hear a statement of this nature from the Swedish Foreign Minister, made to please the Turkish state and gain acceptance into NATO.
鈥淲e understand Sweden鈥檚 interests, but it is wrong to protect its interests at the expense of our people who are still fighting against global terrorism,鈥 it said.
The statement added that ending support to the self-governed region would amount to collaborating with the Turkish state鈥檚 attacks against the people living there.
Billstr枚m鈥檚 comments came a day after a between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo臒an and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg in Turkey, during which the pair discussed Sweden鈥檚 NATO bid among other issues.
Ulf Kristerrson, the newly elected Prime Minister of Sweden, begins a to Turkey on November 8, where he is poised to continue discussions on the accession bid with Erdo臒an.
[Abridged from .]