Sweden extradites PKK terrorist to Turkey
Sweden has extradited a member of the terrorist group PKK and its umbrella organization KCK to Turkey on Friday.
Mahmut Tat was sentenced to six years and ten months in prison in 2015, accused of being a member of the terrorist organization PKK. He applied for asylum in Sweden 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 invasion of Ukraine.
But Türkiye – a NATO member for more than 70 years – expressed objections to its membership applications, 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. Helsinki and Stockholm should therefore not give support to the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian offshoots, the YPG and PYD, or the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) – the group behind the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
In its more than 35-year campaign of terror against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have warned that Türkiye 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.