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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to reporters in Madrid on June 30, 2022. Photo: Erdogan's office
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Sweden has promised to extradite 73 Turkish nationals wanted by Ankara for terror charges in return for Turkey’s support for the Nordic country’s bid to become a member of NATO. However, Swedish foreign minister refuses the extradition of anyone without proof that they were involved in terrorist activities.
Weeks after both Sweden and Finland made bids to enter NATO following the Russia-Ukraine war, they finally reached an agreement with Turkey on Tuesday to support their membership in the security alliance which makes its decisions by consensus. Ankara had initially rejected the Scandinavian countries’ bids for their alleged support to Kurdish fighters and refusal to extradite dozens of people wanted by Ankara for terror charges.
“Sweden has promised to extradite 73 terrorists to Turkey,” Erdogan told reporters in Madrid on Thursday, one day after NATO summit.
As per a memorandum signed by Turkey, Sweden and Finland in Madrid on Tuesday, both Scandinavian countries agreed to address Ankara’s “pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously.”
The people Turkey wants to be extradited are those accused of having links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its alleged Syrian offshoots - People’s Protection Units (YPG) and its political arm, Democratic Union Party (PYD) - as well as Fethullah Gulen - a Turkish cleric who lives in the US and is accused of orchestrating 2016 failed coup attempt against Erdogan.
NATO on Wednesday officially invited Sweden and Finland to become its members.
Erdogan noted on Thursday that the Tuesday memorandum was just the beginning of a long, multi-step process, warning that Turkey could stop supporting both Nordic countries’ bids if they fail to keep their promises.
“It was a beginning and an invitation. What matters is keeping the promises made,” he said, adding that Turkey will take steps as per the progress made in the implementation of its demands.
Bekir Bozdag, Turkish justice minister, told reporters in Ankara on Wednesday that they will “remind” Sweden and Finland that Turkey expects them to extradite 33 people who are wanted by Turkish security forces for terror charges.
No extradition without proof
Ann Linde, Sweden’s foreign minister, told Swedish daily Aftonbladet on Wednesday that they “did not cave in to Erdogan,” adding that they “will not agree to any extraditions unless there is proof that they have carried out terrorist activities.”
A large number of people Turkey wants to be extradited are those Kurds who are accused of having ties to the PKK, as well as the YPG and PYD which rule northeast Syria (Rojava).
“There is no reason at all for Kurds to believe that their human rights or democratic rights would be curtailed,” Linde said.
Some 100,000 Kurds live in Sweden, according to unofficial figures.
The minister is known for her political support for Syrian Kurds. She has received Rojava delegations several times at the foreign ministry’s building. She even told her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in 2020 that Turkey must withdraw troops from Rojava, angering him.
Sweden has denied providing any support to the Syrian Kurds but Kurdish officials have said that they have received indirect humanitarian aid from the country worth tens of millions of dollars since 2016. Also, the SDF has said that it has not been supported by Stockholm.
The Swedish foreign minister also told the daily that, unlike Turkey, they do not classify PYD and YPG as well as the Gulen movement as terrorist organizations, adding that they have only agreed to not support these groups rather than confronting them.
Stockholm has considered the PKK a terrorist organization for decades.
Elham Ahmed, president of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the SDF, told Russian state media in an interview aired earlier this month that they enjoy very good relations with Sweden.
Shiyar Ali, Rojava administration’s representative in Stockholm, told North Press Agency on Thursday that the ruling Swedish Social Democratic Party officials have told him that the country’s stance on Rojava has not changed.
Ali added that they will meet with the Swedish government on Friday to discuss Sweden’s agreement with Turkey.
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