Turkey has expressed dissatisfaction with Sweden’s progress in delivering wanted ‘terrorists’ as part of a deal on its NATO accession – after Stockholm offered to hand over one convicted Turkish fraudster.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu arrive at NATO Summit in Madrid, 29 June 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/MATEUSZ MAREK POLAND OUT
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Finland and Sweden are yet to deliver their commitments given in a NATO deal after Sweden announced that it will extradite one wanted person to Turkey.
“We see that they did not deliver their commitments … We want to see concrete steps,” Cavusoglu said on Thursday and added that three countries will meet on August 26 to review the NATO deal under which Turkey lifted its veto on their accession to NATO in return for Finland and Sweden promising to hand over Turkish exiles and alleged terrorists.
Sweden has announced that it will extradite one Turkish citizen to Ankara wanted for fraud crimes. Minister of Justice Morgan Johansson told Sweden’s SVT on Thursday that this was a routine matter.
“The person in question is a Turkish citizen convicted of fraud in Turkey in 2013 and 2016. The request for extradition was received last year. The Supreme Court has examined the issue as usual and concluded that there are no obstacles to extradition,” Johansson added.
According to Swedish and Turkish media, the man is 35 years old and was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in credit card fraud in 2013 and 2016. He has been in Swedish custody since December 2021.
The extradition is the first known case since NATO negotiations began.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted both Scandinavian countries to end their decades-long policies of military neutrality and seek to join the alliance.
In return for Turkey lifting its veto on this, Sweden and Finland lifted their arms embargo on Turkey and pledged not to support “terrorist” groups and to extradite fugitives wanted by Ankara.
Turkey has been pressuring the two Nordic countries to extradite Turkish fugitives, many of them Kurds or Gulenists, as promised.
“Turkey will keep its word on finalizing the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden but only if they keep theirs first,” Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on August 4.
The memorandum was presented as a diplomatic victory for Turkey, and the Swedish and Finnish governments were accused of betraying the rights of fugitives from Turkey’s authoritarian government and of giving in to the Turkish strongman.
However, very few fugitives in the Nordic states feel any immediate threat, though they don’t doubt Erdogan will continue to push for their extradition.
Sweden and Finland received official invitations to join NATO after Turkey lifted its veto, but all member countries must first ratify this in their parliaments.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
