Turkey is asking Sweden and Finland to extradite a total of 33 people. Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said this on Wednesday, according to Turkish media. The renditions are “under the framework” of the agreement the three countries signed Tuesday at the NATO summit in Madrid, according to Bozdag, on the accession of Sweden and Finland to the alliance.
Finland has received a request from Turkey to extradite six members of the Kurdish guerrilla movement PKK and six members of the dissident Gülen movement. In Sweden, there are eleven PKK members and ten Gülenists. Turkey calls both movements terrorist, but in the case of the Gülen movement, other countries do not agree. The PKK is labeled as terrorist by the EU, but Kurds in Sweden deny any ties to it.
Finland and Sweden both want to join NATO, but Turkey blocked it until Tuesday. According to Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, the three countries have agreed to “extend their full support against threats and for each other’s security”. The agreement would state that the countries will cooperate in the field of extradition, but how exactly is not clear.
Whether Sweden agrees to the request depends on information that the country receives from Turkey, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told Reuters news agency on Wednesday. “We will continue to follow Swedish and international law with all renditions.” Finland has not yet responded.
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