Turkiye demands extradition of terrorists after Sweden-Finland NATO deal

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attend a signing ceremony of a memorandum on the Nordic countries’ NATO in Madrid, Spain on June 28, 2022 [TUR Presidency/ Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Anadolu Agency]

Turkiye’s Justice Minister said on Wednesday that his country expects Sweden and Finland to extradite more than 30 “terrorists” under an agreement that lifted Ankara’s objections to their bids to join NATO, Anadolu has reported.

“We will ask them to abide by their commitments,” added Bekir Bozdag. The extradition of 33 suspects must now be fulfilled under the NATO deal, he insisted.

According to the minister, the individuals wanted for extradition are suspected of belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the US-based Gulen organisation. Ankara blames founder Fethullah Gulen for the failed coup attempt in 2016.

Meanwhile, NATO sources said that the alliance has officially begun the process of integrating Sweden and Finland after Turkiye approved their requests during a last-minute agreement ahead of the NATO summit in Madrid yesterday.

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