SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Turkey accuses Sweden, Finland of not extraditing 'terrorists'
Ankara, May 16 (AFP) May 16, 2022
NATO member Turkey accused Sweden and Finland of failing to extradite dozens of suspected "terrorists", state media reported Monday, after the Nordic countries said they would seek membership of the military alliance.

The two countries have officially announced their intention to apply after Russia's invasion of Ukraine but Ankara has threatened to block expansion.

Any membership bid must be unanimously approved by NATO's 30 members.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed opposition Friday to their membership in what analysts said appeared to be a tactic by Ankara to extract concessions from NATO states.

Neither Sweden nor Finland have responded positively to Turkey's 33 extradition requests over the past five years, justice ministry sources told Turkish state news agency Anadolu.

The agency reported Turkey wanted individuals that were either accused of having links to Kurdish militants or belonging to a movement blamed for the 2016 attempted overthrow of Erdogan.

The Turkish president said last Friday the two Nordic countries were "like a guesthouse for terror organisations".

Turkey has rebuked Sweden and Finland, especially Stockholm, for showing what it describes as leniency towards the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is on the European Union's list of terrorist organisations.

The PKK has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu praised Finland's conciliatory approach Sunday but criticised Sweden for "provocative" statements during talks in Berlin on the two countries joining NATO.

Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said Monday Sweden was sending a delegation to Turkey for talks with officials.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
EU clears European satellite giant SES bid for US rival Intelsat
Aethero Secures $8.4M to Build the Next Generation of Space-Based Computing and Autonomous Spacecraft
Axiom-4 mission launch scrubbed as SpaceX detects leak in Falcon 9 rocket

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Scientists develop electronic skin to give robots the feeling of human touch
Nairobi startup's bid to be 'operating system for global South'
Russia to build Kazakhstan's first nuclear power plant

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Hegseth defends $961.6B Defense Department budget request
Iran's nuclear programme, Netanyahu's age-old obsession
Israel, Iran resume missile exchange, threaten more attacks

24/7 News Coverage
Nations advance ocean protection, vow to defend seabed
Greenland ice melted much faster than average in May heatwave: scientists
Value oceans, don't plunder them, French Polynesia leader tells AFP



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.