Turkey requests that Sweden take "concrete actions" against terrorism in order to earn support for its NATO candidature.

Turkey has warned Sweden that it must take "concrete steps" against terrorism, which Ankara claims Stockholm supports in the name of free speech, if it wants to join the US-led NATO alliance amid Russia's ongoing offensive in Ukraine.

"We don't see a satisfactory level of implementation," Turkey's vice president Cevdet Yilmaz was quoted as saying by the Financial Times.

Turkey is fighting a resurgence of Kurdish insurgents, as evidenced by an attack near the parliamentary building in Ankara on Sunday (Oct 1), just before the start of a parliament session.

Sweden's NATO bid and Turkey's opposition: Latest sequence of events

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated in July that Ankara would no longer oppose Sweden's request to join NATO.

However, Erdogan's purported commitment to allow Sweden to join NATO must be ratified by the Swedish parliament. The parliament reconvened on Sunday, but the agenda was overshadowed by a suicide bombing near the parliamentary premise.

During the NATO summit in July, while Erdogan agreed to allow Sweden to join the US-led military alliance, his Justice and Development Party (AKP) allies in parliament asserted that Stockholm must act against alleged Kurdish separatists if it is to join NATO.

The Kurdish group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is accused of orchestrating a coup attempt in 2016.

Ylmaz also warned Sweden that, because these issues are so important to Ankara, the parliament would be put under a lot of pressure if Stockholm did not take significant steps. Sweden agreed with Turkey last year to take tough measures against extremist organisations, including the Kurdish militant group.

"Because there is public opinion in Turkey," Ylmaz said, "our parliament is very sensitive about these issues."

"If we don't see enough progress in practise, the parliament will be put under tremendous strain."

Ylmaz went on to say that if "real concrete steps are taken," it would be fairly dependent on parliamentary approval.

Saudi Arabia condemns Quran burning in Sweden

Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned the burning of a copy of the Islamic holy book of the Quran in the Swedish city of Malmo

Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned the burning of a copy of the Islamic holy book of the Quran in the Swedish city of Malmo, a move which the kingdom says was carried out with “the knowledge of the local authorities”.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry on Sunday “reiterated the kingdom’s rejection of such flagrant acts,” and said such a move had inflamed the feelings of millions of Muslims worldwide, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Saudi Press Agency. 

The ministry called on the Swedish authorities to deal with Quran desecrations in a timely manner and stop giving permission to those who plan to take similar actions. Salwan Momika, an individual of Iraqi origin, tore pages of the Quran and burnt it in Malmo on Saturday.

The Swedish police detained some individuals and turned away some others who tried to stop the move, Swedish media reported.

Over the past months, copies of the Quran have been repeatedly desecrated by anti-Islam individuals or groups in countries including Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands, sparking outrage and criticism in Muslim-majority countries worldwide.

Sweden gangs: Army to help police after surge in killings

The army will be officially tasked with assisting the police with gangs next Thursday

The Swedish army is stepping in to support police in tackling a recent surge in gang killings, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has announced.

He said that from next week the army would start providing assistance with analysis and logistics, as well as in handling explosives and forensic work.

Mr Kristersson added that Sweden's laws also needed updating to enable more military involvement.

So far this month, 12 people have been killed in gang violence in the country.

This is the highest number since December 2019, according to the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

On Wednesday night alone, two young men were shot dead in Stockholm, and a woman - who police say had no links to gang crime - was killed in blast at home some 80km (50 miles) north of the capital.

The 24-year-old woman, named as Soha Saad by local media, was a newly qualified teacher and thought to be a neighbour of the target of the explosion.

HARDtalk with Foreign Minister Tobias Billström: Controversy in Sweden

Mr Kristersson made the announcement after crisis talks on Friday with Sweden's army chief Micael Byden, police chief Anders Thornberg and Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer.

He said the government would ask the army to help the police "in cases where the armed forces' specialist skills can help".

"This could be many things: help with explosives and helicopter logistics, analysis skills... IT forensic analysis."

The prime minister added that the country's current legislation had to change to address "grey-zone situations where it's not obvious what kind of threat Sweden is facing".

Soha Saad, 24, was killed in the early hours of Thursday after a blast tore through her home

Swedish media have connected the recent surge in deaths to a conflict involving a gang known as the Foxtrot network, which has been rocked by infighting and split into two rival factions.

On Thursday, Mr Kristersson said Sweden had not seen anything like it before and that "no other country in Europe" was experiencing this kind of situation.

Children and innocent bystanders, he stressed, were increasingly being caught up in such violence.

Last year, more than 60 people died in shootings in Sweden - the highest on record - and this year is set to be the same or worse.

An official government report published in 2021 stated that four in every million inhabitants were dying in shootings each year in Sweden - compared with 1.6 people per million across Europe.

Police have linked the violence to poor integration of immigrants, a widening gap between rich and poor and drug use.

Mr Kristersson's centre-right minority government, which came to power last year with the support of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, has not yet been able to stem the violence.

He has vowed to push ahead with more surveillance, harsher penalties for breaking gun laws, stronger deportation powers and stop and search zones - insisting that "everything is on the table".

Some critics have argued these measures fail to address underlying social issues including child poverty and underfunded community services.

Source: BBC