We condemn the unacceptable concessions made by Finland and Sweden to Turkey in order to be inducted as NATO members at the 2022 Madrid summit.

It is a move which both empowers Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regime in its continued suppression of freedom and rights of the Kurdish people, as well as the further expansion the NATO war machine.

Turkey had initially stood in the way of Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO, yet that has all changed quickly as the two Nordic countries will now lift previously held restrictions on selling weapons to Ankara, which is highly ironic given that this is a move heralded by the establishment as a ‘win for peace’.

Erdogan’s regime had also accused Finland and Sweden of protecting Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants and said they would not back their membership as a result but, again, concessions have been made which will likely be used as a blanket justification to persecute innocent Kurds.

It is a fateful day for the political establishment in Finland and Sweden as, by bowing to Erdogan’s demands, they have destroyed a tradition that their predecessors had been carefully building for decades – a tradition of defending people fighting for freedom.

Democracy, freedom and human rights are being eroded on a daily basis and, now, the alleged ‘social-democratic and progressive bloc’ is contributing to the expansion of imperialism and militarisation.

The only correct side of history is the one that opposes all imperialist wars, just as the new Non-Aligned Movement of MERA25, DiEM25 and Progressive International proposes and advocates, and does not choose between crimes against humanity by Vladimir Putin, Erdogan or NATO.

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