Turkey 'uneasy' over PYD office, Stockholm says 'no diplomatic status' granted

Turkey has conveyed its uneasiness to Sweden over the opening of a Democratic Union Party office in Stockholm, as the latter has stated that the representation office has "no diplomatic status."

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu held a telephone conversation with his Swedish counterpart, Foreign Minister Margot Wallström, on April 27, while he was in Beijing participating in the fifth foreign ministers' meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Turkish diplomatic sources told Hürriyet Daily News on April 28.

"During his talk with Swedish Foreign Minister Wallström, Minister Çavu?o?lu expressed our uneasiness we felt due to the PYD's opening of an office in Stockholm," diplomatic sources, speaking under customary condition of anonymity, said.

Turkey sees the PYD and its militia force, the People's Protection Units (YPG), as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it labels as a terrorist organization. The PYD/YPG has already opened offices in Moscow and Prague in the past months.

On April 17, they opened yet another office in Stockholm, with news reports from Sweden citing its name as "The Rojava Bureau."

The conversation between Çavu?o?lu and Wallström took place upon the latter's request as the two ministers hold regular contacts on a wide range of issues that are of common interest , Swedish diplomatic sources told Hürriyet Daily News on April 28.

"The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not informed of establishment of the PYD office. This office has not been in touch with the ministry and it has no diplomatic status," the Swedish diplomatic sources, who requested anonymity, said.

ARA News press agency reported on...