SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Turkey says first Swedish extradition falls short of demands
Istanbul, Aug 18 (AFP) Aug 18, 2022
Turkey's justice minister Thursday said Sweden's pledge to extradite a Turkish convict fell far short of Stockholm's commitments under a deal paving the way for its NATO membership bid.

NATO member Turkey is threatening to freeze Sweden's attempts to join the Western defence alliance unless it extradites dozens of people Ankara accuses of "terrorism".

A non-binding deal Sweden and fellow NATO aspirant Finland signed with Turkey in June commits them to "expeditiously and thoroughly" examine Ankara's requests for suspects linked to a 2016 coup attempt and outlawed Kurdish militants.

The Swedish government said earlier this month that it would extradite Okan Kale -- a man convicted of credit card fraud who appeared on a list of people sought by Ankara published by Turkish media.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told the conservative Milliyet news site that Sweden needed to do far more to win Turkey's trust.

"If they think that by extraditing ordinary criminals to Turkey they will make us believe that they have fulfilled their promises, they are wrong," Bozdag said in the first government response to the extradition decision.

"Nobody should test Turkey," he warned.

Bozdag is seen as one of the more hawkish members of Erdogan's government.

The powerful Turkish leader himself has warned that he will not submit the two countries' applications for ratification in parliament unless they comply with his extradition demands in full.

Erdogan said in July that Sweden had made a "promise" to extradite "73 terrorists".

The Turkish justice ministry in June formally requested the extradition of 21 suspects from Sweden and 12 from Finland.

Sweden and Finland ended decades of military neutrality and decided to try and join NATO in response to Russia's February invasion of Ukraine.

Their bids have already been ratified by the United States and more than half of the 30 members of NATO. Each application must win unanimous consent from member states.

Sweden and Finland are due to hold their first formal consultations with Turkey about the dispute on August 26.

Swedish media report that the meeting will be held in Stockholm but no formal announcement has been made.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Trump-Musk showdown threatens US space plans
Japanese company aborts Moon mission after assumed crash-landing
Renowned Mars expert says Trump-Musk axis risks dooming mission

24/7 Energy News Coverage
'No doubt' Canadian firm will be first to extract deep sea minerals: CEO
Tabletop particle blaster: How tiny nozzles and lasers could replace giant accelerators
Set it and forget it: Autonomous structures can be programmed to jump days in advance

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Iran FM warns Europe against 'strategic mistake' at IAEA; Iran obtained 'sensitive' Israeli intel
DOD is investigating Hegseth's staffers over Houthi-strikes chats
Three dead as Ukraine hit with third-straight day of overnight attacks

24/7 News Coverage
Ailing Baltic Sea in need of urgent attention
Money, mining and marine parks: The big issues at UN ocean summit
Solar power farms would impact less than 1 percent of Arkansas' ag land



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.