ISTANBUL: Just two days after Sweden and Finland agreed to raise objections to joining NATO, Turkey’s leader threatened on Thursday that if the two countries fail to fully meet their expectations, Ankara may still halt the process.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the end of the coalition’s summit in Madrid that the 10-article agreement with the Nordic pair on Tuesday night was a victory for Ankara that addressed all its “sensitivities”. He particularly stressed Turkey’s demand that Sweden and Finland extradite terrorist suspects along with illegal Kurdish groups or a network of exiled clerics accused of a failed 2016 coup in Turkey.
But Erdogan said that if the two Nordic states go back on their promises, Turkey’s parliament may still not ratify the deal. NATO’s accession must be formally approved by all 30 member states, giving each the right to blockade.
“If we don’t get it passed in our parliament, it won’t work,” Erdogan said. “First Sweden and Finland must fulfill their duties and they are already in the text … but if they do not fulfill these, of course we will not send it to our parliament.”
Erdogan claimed that Sweden had planned to extradite 73 “terrorists” to Turkey and crack down on the financing and recruitment activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK – listed as a terrorist group by the US and the European Union – and associated groups. I promised. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, to be an extension of the PKK.
The text of the memorandum does not stipulate any specific number on extradition. It said the Nordic countries will “expeditiously and fully address pending deportation or extradition requests of terrorist suspects, taking into account information, evidence and intelligence” by Turkey in accordance with the European Convention on Extradition.
On Wednesday, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said the justice ministries of Sweden and Finland have Turkey files on 33 people with alleged links to the network of the PKK and US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Journalists at Thursday’s news conference repeatedly pressed Erdogan about extradition and asked whether Sweden had indeed promised the numbers he quoted.
“Of course what we understand is what is important from our meetings and talks,” Erdogan said. “Sweden promised us these 73 people with this lesson. Whether they do or not, we’ll follow through with the text and we’ll make our decision.
Erdogan also said that the number of extraditions was 60, but it was updated to 73. There was no immediate response to requests for comments from the Swedish delegation at the summit in Madrid.
The Swedish government has sought to allay concerns that the deal would lead to extradition to Turkey without due process.
“I know there are some people who are worried that we will start hunting people down and extraditing them and I think it’s important to say that we always follow Swedish laws and international conventions, and we are Swedish Never extradite citizens,” Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told public broadcaster SVT on Wednesday.
Finnish President Souli Niinisto insisted that Helsinki pointed out that the memorandum did not list the names of the individuals.
“In the case of extradition, we will follow our own law and international agreements. Ultimately, extradition is a legal conscience that politicians have no right to influence,” Niinisto said.
With the signing of the joint memorandum, NATO proceeded with inviting the Nordic countries to the military alliance, which seeks to expand and strengthen in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The most time-consuming part of obtaining NATO membership is the ratification of the applicants’ accession protocol by the alliance’s 30 member states. It is a process that involves national parliaments – and can take months.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that Germany would begin the process of confirming Sweden and Finland’s planned NATO membership this week and would end it “very quickly”.
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