2 yıl önce

Türkiye, Sweden to discuss extradition of terrorists next month

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag says that Ankara expects Sweden and Finland to extradite PKK and FETO terror members to Türkiye under the NATO deal.

AA Archive

Bozdag says that no information is given about whether those whose extradition Türkiye wants have left Sweden and Finland.

A delegation from the Swedish Justice Ministry will visit Türkiye on October 5-6 to hold technical talks on the extradition of terrorists under NATO memorandum, the Turkish justice minister has said.

"We expect Sweden and Finland to extradite FETO and PKK (terror group) members to Türkiye within the scope of the NATO agreement," Bekir Bozdag on Monday told the reporters after the Cabinet meeting in the capital Ankara.

Bozdag said Ankara wants the extradition of the terrorists who were indicted and prosecuted in Türkiye.

He added that no information was given about whether those whose extradition Türkiye wanted had left Sweden and Finland.

Tolerating terrorist groups

Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia's offensive in Ukraine.

However, Türkiye, a member of NATO for over 70 years, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticising the countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.

A trilateral memorandum at the NATO summit signed among the countries in June stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the YPG/PYD, the PKK's Syrian offshoot, or to the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO) – the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye.

Türkiye’s parliament must ratify Finland's and Sweden’s membership bids for them to join NATO.