Turkey seeks extraditions from Finland, Sweden under NATO deal

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Turkey announced on Wednesday that it would seek the extradition of 33 alleged Kurdish militants and "coup plot" suspects from Sweden and Finland as part of an agreement to secure Ankara's support for the Nordic countries' NATO membership bids.

Following crunch talks ahead of Wednesday's NATO summit in Madrid, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan dropped weeks of opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO.

Erdogan declared victory after securing a 10-point agreement in which the two countries agreed to join Turkey's "fight against banned Kurdish militants and to quickly extradite suspects."

Turkey put the agreement to the test right away when it announced that it would seek the extradition of 12 suspects from Finland and 21 from Sweden. "We ask them to fulfill their promises," Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in a statement.

Read next: Turkey agrees to back Finnish, Swedish NATO membership

The unidentified suspects were identified as members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) by Turkey and a group led by a preacher whom Erdogan blames for a failed coup attempt in 2016.

The agreement also states that Sweden and Finland will "not provide support" to the YPG.

In response to Russia's military operation in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment and were formally invited into the alliance at Wednesday's summit in Madrid.

One request vs. a long list of conditions
While #Turkey had a long list of conditions from #Finland and #Sweden, all the two Nordic states wanted was to join #NATO.
Here's your guide to understanding on what basis the agreement was made. pic.twitter.com/Aw7Jtu7frp

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 28, 2022

Kurdish community rep says they are waiting for clarifications from Sweden and Finland on the extradition mechanism to Turkey

Shiyar Ali, a representative of the Kurdish community in the north-east of Syria (Rojava) in the Scandinavian states, stated that the extradition agreement concluded between Sweden and Finland with Turkey as part of a security memorandum is "inhumane and contradicts democratic principles. Thus, the Kurdish community in these countries will await explanations from Stockholm and Helsinki regarding the mechanism of this document, according to the representative. 

“We oppose the very principle of extradition of any political figure, from whatever country he may be. The implementation of such a decision will affect, first of all, the reputation of Sweden and Finland themselves, human rights, freedom, and democracy. This will affect Swedish society and, of course, the large Kurdish diaspora, which plays a political role and has social weight in Sweden and Finland,” Ali said.

Read next: PKK members extradition from Sweden, Finland top demand from Turkey

Based on his statements, the Kurdish community abroad intends to seek clarification from state authorities on the mechanism for utilizing the extradition agreement, as well as legislation pertaining to terrorist crimes.

“With regard to extradition, they agreed to develop a mechanism for contacting terrorist suspects… We have discussed with the authorized authorities the law on terrorist crimes, which applies to all terrorists and persons included in the terrorist list… We will be in contact with the authorities dealing with these issues and the Swedish government to get clarifications on this law and the principles of its implementation,” said Shiyar Ali