Sweden’s blocking of the Turkish journalist’s extradition is “very negative”, says FM
Reuters – Duvar English
Sweden’s top court decision to block the extradition of Turkish journalist Bülent Keneş is a “very negative” development, Turkey’s foreign minister said on December 20, as Stockholm seeks Ankara’s approval to join NATO.
Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu spoke at a press conference in Ankara. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan last month singled out Keneş as a person Ankara wants extradited from Sweden as a condition for Ankara’s approval for Stockholm to join NATO.
Ankara says Keneş is a member of an organization it accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.
Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said it is obliged to act in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“We cannot speculate on the possible impact this will have on NATO membership,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in an emailed comment. “The Swedish government must follow Swedish and international law in matters of extradition, which is also clear from the trilateral agreement.”
“We no longer want to hear words and promises from Sweden and Finland. We want to see concrete steps,” Çavuşoğlu added.
“Not only the PKK (and its affiliates) but also FETÖ [Fethullahist Terrorist Organization] was mentioned (on the memorandum),” he further said.
The Gülen movement, officially known as the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), is an ally-turned-enemy of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and is widely believed to have orchestrated the failed coup attempt in July 2016.
Finland and Sweden both applied to join NATO in May in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but their bids require the approval of all 30 NATO member states, including Turkey.
In June, Sweden and Finland agreed to take a number of steps to overcome Turkey’s objections and signed a three-way agreement.
One of Turkey’s demands was for Sweden and Finland to extradite Turkish suspects on terror-related charges, although the two Nordic countries have said they have not agreed to specific extraditions and that all requests will be processed according to national and international law.