Commentary Turkey’s obstruction of Sweden and Finland’s NATO memberships should bring Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s blatant disregard for human rights, national sovereignty, and wonton aggression against the Kurdish people into focus. Turkey demands that Finland and Sweden stop harboring members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Gülenists, whom Erdoğan considers terrorists.
Erdoğan personally sought peace with the PKK until he reneged on a peace agreement in 2015. At the same time, Turkish aggression and backing of jihadist groups including al-Qaida and ISIS has fueled the flow of refugees into Europe.
“Erdogan took advantage of Turkey’s important role to go back on his promises and push for his personal agenda,” human-rights lawyer and geopolitical analyst Irina Tsukerman told me….