Turkey summons Swedish envoy over images ‘insulting’ Erdogan

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey summoned the Swedish ambassador on Monday after images that allegedly insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and served as Kurdish militant propaganda were projected on the Turkish Embassy building in Stockholm, Turkey’s state-run news agency reported.

Anadolu Agency said Ambassador Staffan Herrstrom was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, where officials condemned the incident, called for an investigation and renewed a demand for Stockholm to take “concrete steps” against groups that Turkey considers to be security threats, according to Anadolu Agency.

Sweden and Finland abandoned their longstanding policies of military nonalignment and applied for NATO membership this year after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February.

But NATO-member Turkey has not yet endorsed their accession, which requires unanimous approval from existing alliance members.

Erdogan’s government is pressing the two countries to crack down on individuals it considers to be terrorists, including supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and people the government suspects of orchestrating a failed 2016 coup in Turkey.

Earlier this month, Sweden’s new prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, visited Turkey and pledged to work toward countering “terrorism” threats to Turkey.