Sweden is preparing to deport PKK terror suspects
STOCKHOLM
Sweden will deport a suspected member of the terrorist group PKK to Türkiye, local media on Friday.
The Swedish newspaper ETC reported that 26-year-old Zinar Bozkurt has been detained awaiting deportation.
Separately, the digital news outlet Blank Spot said that Bozkurt’s asylum application to Sweden eight years ago was rejected earlier this year and that a decision had been made to deport him.
The Swedish Security Police (SAPO) detained Bozkurt for links to the terrorist organization PKK, it reported, adding that he was considered a security threat to the Nordic country.
This came about a week after reports emerged that Stockholm accepted Turkey’s extradition request for Okan Kale, who was convicted of fraud.
Kale sought asylum in Sweden in 2011 after being accused of credit card fraud against three banks in Türkiye, but his request was rejected.
In 2014, he was granted refugee status in Italy.
Kale received a temporary refugee residence card for two years in Italy. He then came to Sweden in 2016 and married a Swedish woman who was 23 years older than him. He received a residence and work permit in Sweden thanks to this marriage.
In October 2021, Ankara came into contact with Swedish authorities through Interpol. Kale was arrested and imprisoned on the same date.
On the other hand, Ankara has received no positive response to other terrorist extradition requests over the past five years, including for members of the PKK and its offshoots, as well as the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the defeated coup on July 15, 2016 in Turkey.
Sweden refused to extradite PKK members Mehmet Sirac Bilgin, Aziz Turan, Ragip Zarakolu and Halef Tak and granted citizenship to all four.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US and the EU – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Nor did Stockholm respond to Ankara’s request for the extradition of FETO members Harun Tokak and Bulent Kenes.
In the defeated 2016 coup orchestrated by FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen, 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.
In June, Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed a memorandum on the Nordic countries’ applications for membership in NATO after four-way talks in Madrid.
The memorandum requires Finland and Sweden to take measures against Turkey’s concerns about terrorism, including the extradition of terror suspects, and lifts an arms embargo against Ankara.
In return, Turkey allows the Nordic countries to become members of NATO.
However, Ankara accused Finland and Sweden of not complying with the agreement as both nations failed to extradite terrorists that Ankara sought.
*Written by Seda Sevencan
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