Turkey has sent written statements to Sweden and Finland requesting the Nordic countries extradite members of the PKK terrorist group and the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said Wednesday.
Bozdağ said last week that Turkey would renew requests for Sweden and Finland to extradite individuals it considers terrorists after the countries reached a deal over the Nordic nations' NATO membership bids.
"The dossiers of six PKK members and six FETÖ members await in Finland, while those of 10 FETÖ members and 11 PKK members await in Sweden. We will write about their extradition again after the agreement and remind them," Bozdağ said.
Last week, Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed a deal for Ankara to remove its block of the Nordic countries’ NATO membership, while the candidates pledged not to support the PKK terrorist group, its extensions or FETÖ, which staged a 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey.
The agreement addresses Ankara's three main concerns with Finland and Sweden: the lifting of weapons export restrictions to Turkey, a hard line on the PKK and its affiliates, and the extradition of terrorist suspects.
In the memorandum text the three countries signed, Finland and Sweden agreed to "address (Turkey's) pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly ... in accordance with the European Convention on Extradition."
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Sweden and Finland that he could still block their drives to join NATO if they fail to implement a new accession deal with Ankara.
