Turkey denies receiving 'positive response' from Sweden & Finland on extradition demands

Turkey has not received a "positive response" from Sweden and Finland to their requests for extradition of people who have been involved in terrorist activities, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said. Bozdag stated that Ankara has updated its appeal and again reminded the two nations about Turkey's request regarding extradition, RIA Novosti reported. 

Notably, Turkey had objected to Sweden and Finland's NATO bid and accused Helsinki and Stockholm of supporting Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, which Ankara views as a "terrorist organization". However, Turkey lifted its objections to Sweden and Finland's NATO membership after the three nations signed a trilateral memorandum to address Ankara's legitimate security concerns. On August 18, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag stated that Sweden's decision to extradite a Turkish convict was far short of Stockholm's commitments made under the agreement which paved the way for its NATO membership, Hurriyet Daily News reported. 

Sweden announced to extradite man convicted of fraud

Earlier this month, the Swedish government said that it would extradite Okan Kale, a man convicted of credit card fraud. In response to Sweden's decision to extradite a man convicted of fraud, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag emphasized that Stockholm needed to make more efforts to win the trust of Ankara. He asserted that Sweden is "wrong" if it believes that it would be able to convince Turkey about fulfilling its commitments by extraditing "ordinary criminals" to Ankara. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated he will not present the Nordic nation's application for ratification in parliament until they do not fulfill Ankara's extradition demands. In July, Erdogan stated that Sweden had committed to extraditing "73 terrorists." 

Finland, Sweden & Turkey to hold meeting 

Meanwhile, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto stated that Finland, Sweden, and Turkey will hold a meeting in Finland in August, as per the  Hurriyet Daily News report. He has not revealed the date of the meeting between the representatives of the three nations. Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the meeting between Turkey, Finland, and Sweden will be held on August 26. Pekka Haavisto said that the meeting between Turkey and the two Nordic countries will continue the discussions based on the trilateral memorandum signed between the three nations in June. 

Image: AP