The Supreme Court of Sweden permitted Stockholm to return a man supporting the PKK terrorist group to Türkiye, with extraditions being one of Türkiye’s key demands to ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO, local media said Tuesday.
The ruling means it’s now up to Sweden’s government to decide on whether to extradite the man, the newspaper Aftonbladet reported, adding that he would be the first PKK supporter extradited by Sweden to Türkiye.
In Sweden, the government makes the final decision on extradition requests but cannot grant a request to another state if the Supreme Court rules against it.
According to Aftonbladet, the court reached the decision last week. It came just as the two countries are due to discuss Sweden’s stalled NATO application after the reelection of Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The 35-year-old man was sentenced in 2014 to four years and seven months in a Turkish prison for transporting a bag containing cannabis, the newspaper said.
He was released on parole and moved to Sweden but was arrested in August last year following a request from Turkish prosecutors who want him to serve the rest of his sentence.
But the newspaper said the man claims the real reason Turkish authorities are seeking him is his affiliation with the pro-PKK Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and for having shown support for the PKK, a group blacklisted by Ankara and its Western allies as a terror formation.
In the decision, according to Aftonbladet, the court noted that it had asked the Turkish prosecutor if there were ongoing investigations or charges against the man regarding "propagating for a terrorist organization" or "insulting the Turkish president," which the prosecutor denied.
Türkiye and Hungary are the only NATO member states yet to ratify Sweden’s bid, requiring unanimous ratification.
In a historic turnaround, Sweden and Finland abandoned their longstanding military non-alliance and applied to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Last year, Türkiye and the two Nordic countries signed a memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, paving the way for their eventual membership in the alliance.
Cracking down on extremist groups and approving the extraditions of dozens of suspects linked to the PKK, as well as a failed 2016 coup attempt by members of the Gülenist Terrorist Group (FETÖ) who find shelter in the country, have been key demands from Türkiye.
In April, Stockholm agreed to extradite a Turkish citizen missing 15 years of prison in Türkiye and rejected the extradition of another, 51-year-old Mehmet Zakir Karayel, a Swedish citizen of Turkish origin whom Ankara suspects of being a member of an armed terrorist organization.
Sweden also took into effect on June 1 a new anti-terrorism law that criminalizes "participation in a terrorist organization," with Swedish premier Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg insisting that the Nordic country had "already fulfilled its obligations" to assuage Ankara’s concerns as per the tripartite deal.
But recent provocative demonstrations by terrorist sympathizers and Islamophobic figures in Stockholm have led Turkish leaders to question Sweden’s commitment to take the steps necessary for NATO membership.
Terrorist propaganda, as well as the burning of Islam’s holy book outside Türkiye’s Embassy in Stockholm in January, which sparked condemnation in the Islamic world, leading to weeks of protests, and calls for a boycott of Swedish goods, have contributed to Sweden’s long-spun process.
Continued terror-affiliated and anti-Türkiye protests, as recent as a demonstration in Stockholm last Sunday targeting Erdoğan and protesting the new law, risk further endangering Sweden’s NATO bid.
After meeting Erdoğan since his reelection in the May elections, Stoltenberg informed at a press conference in Istanbul that the sides had agreed the permanent joint mechanism Türkiye established with Sweden and Finland at the Madrid summit last year should reconvene in the week of June 12.
"The mechanism is vital in the fight against terrorism," Stoltenberg remarked.
"Membership will make Sweden, as well as NATO and Türkiye, stronger. I’m looking forward to the completion of Sweden’s membership process," he added, highlighting the bloc’s desire to see Sweden, a member before the next NATO summit in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius on July 11-12.
While Sweden’s bid still faces opposition, Finland managed to become the 31st member of NATO on April 4.