Sweden must extradite "
terrorists
" if it wants to join NATO, said the Turkish Minister of Justice after the announcement, deemed disappointing by Ankara, of a first extradition to Turkey of a Turk convicted of common law facts.
“
If they think they can make Turkey believe that they have kept their promises by extraditing common criminals, they are mistaken
,” declared Minister Bekir Bozdag in an interview with the daily
Milliyet
published on Thursday 18 August.
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Since mid-May, Turkey, a member of NATO, has been blocking the process of enlargement of the Atlantic Alliance to Sweden and Finland, accusing them in particular of protecting Kurdish fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the People's Protection Units (YPG), considered terrorists by Ankara.
At the end of June, the Turkish, Swedish and Finnish Foreign Ministers had however signed a memorandum of understanding opening the access of the two Nordic nations to the Atlantic Alliance.
Turkey had the next day made to the two countries extradition requests for 33 people, most considered "
terrorists
" by Ankara.
"
We have received no response regarding the extradition of members of FETO [acronym Ankara uses to refer to the movement of preacher Fethullah Gülen, accused by Turkish authorities of fomenting the July 2016 coup attempt] , the PKK and other terrorist organizations
,” said the Turkish minister.
“
Letters reiterating our demands have been sent to our foreign ministry and from there to the countries concerned
,” he added.
The name of Okan Kale -- the first Turkish national whose extradition request was accepted by Sweden -- was included in the list of 33 names published by Turkish media in late June.
Okan Kale had been convicted of fraud.
A meeting between Turkey, Finland and Sweden on the NATO membership process for the two states is to be held on August 26.
The meeting will take place in Sweden, according to several Swedish media.
Twenty member states of NATO - out of 30 - have ratified the application for membership of the two Nordic countries.
