Swedish government under fire for bargaining with Turkey over NATO bid

Sweden's governing Social Democrats have come under fire from the left for caving into Turkish demands as they sought to persuade Ankara to lift its veto on the Nordic nation's accession to NATO.

"We are very concerned about the government basically faltering before Turkey and [President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan in the past weeks and months," the Left Party's spokeswoman for defence, Hanna Gunnarsson, told Sveriges Radio on Saturday.

Maria Ferm, a lawmaker from the centre-left Green Party, told the public broadcaster during an election debate that Erdogan should not be allowed to govern Sweden .

Turkey refused to sign up for the NATO deal with aspiring members Sweden and Finland after accusing them of covertly supporting a pro-Kurdish insurgency in Turkey. Erdogan gave a go-ahead to their accession after receiving assurances of cooperation from the two.

Social Democrats are meanwhile heading for a tough power struggle in the September 11 general election after rival far-right Sweden Democrats surged in polls on public concerns over rising immigration and crime.