Sweden cannot refrain from condemning the criminal provocation of the PKK terrorist organization against Turkey and the head of state.

APA's Istanbul correspondent reports that Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlud Çavuşoğlu said this in response to journalists' questions during a joint press conference with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tayani in Ankara.

He noted that the Swedish government should have prevented this provocation.

"This provocation is an act of racism and hate crime that took place in front of the Stockholm municipality building.

Sweden itself has to deal with it.

The PKK and YPG do not want Sweden and Finland to join NATO and are trying to prevent it," the minister stressed.

Çavuşoğlu also added that Turkey is ready to hold the next tripartite meeting based on the proposal of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

The minister also reminded that Russia and the United States have not fulfilled the 2019 memorandum of understanding and their promises in the fight against terrorism in Syria.