Sweden extradites PKK/KCK terrorist group member to Turkey
ISTANBUL
Sweden extradited a PKK/KCK terrorist group member to Turkey on Friday.
Mahmut Tat was sentenced to six years and ten months in prison in Sweden after he was arrested on charges of being a member of the terrorist organization PKK/KCK.
He applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015 because of his sentence but was refused.
Tat was taken to a detention center in Molndal. After completing procedures, he was sent to Turkey by air.
Sweden and Finland formally applied to join NATO in May, abandoning decades of military non-alignment, a decision spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine.
But Türkiye – a NATO member for more than 70 years – expressed objections to their bid for membership, accusing the two countries of tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.
Turkey and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum in June at a NATO summit to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.
According to the memorandum, Finland and Sweden give their full support to Türkiye to counter threats to the country’s national security. To that end, Helsinki and Stockholm shall not provide support to the terrorist group YPG/PYD or the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) – the group behind the defeated coup in 2016 in Turkey.
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. The YPG is its Syrian offshoot.
Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have warned that Turkey will not give the nod to Sweden and Finland’s membership until the memorandum is implemented.
Unanimous consent of all 30 existing allied countries is required for a country to join NATO.
*Writing by Seda Sevencan in Istanbul