Turkey says Sweden, Finland haven't extradited terrorists as per deal for NATO membership

Sweden has not yet extradited the 33 "terrorists" from Sweden and Finland despite a deal being reached with the two Nordic countries that felicitated their NATO membership bids, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the state broadcaster TRT World. Ankara has been pushing the two Nordic nations to "fulfil their promises” and hand over to Turkey the people who have been accused of terrorism-related charges.

Speaking to the agency, Cavusoglu said that Sweden and Finland haven’t fulfilled their obligations yet. The Turkish minister reiterated the "terror propaganda in Sweden and Finland continues” even after the trilateral deal between the three nations. 

Ankara pushes to fulfill its 'legitimate security concerns'

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Sauli Niinistö of Finland and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden had reached a trilateral memorandum to address Ankara’s legitimate security concerns, that paved the way for Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership during the summit in Madrid. 

Turkish leader Erdogan accused both Helsinki and Stockholm of emboldening Kurdish militants from Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK, and its Syrian arm, the YPG, and US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, accused of a failed coup in 2016. Erdogan also registered opposition to Sweden and Finland’s supply of weaponry to the Kurdish militants that have been known to hamper Turkish military’s operations in Syria. Turkey had also demanded written guarantees from the two Nordic nations as it signed a three-way memorandum shortly after the NATO summit. 

Sweden's Justice Minister Morgan Johannsson had earlier pacified Turkey saying that it would adhere to the international laws and would evaluate the extradition requests. Ankara has been urging the Nordic nations to "address Turkey's pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously."

On Tuesday, however, the Turkish foreign ministry claimed that it has been short of response from Sweden and Finland about the extradition request and that the two nations have been in “denial.” "If obligations are fulfilled, it will be sent to the president and he will send it to Parliament. Of course, Parliament will decide, but it cannot be sent right now," he told the pro-government paper Daily Sabbah. Ankara’s foreign ministry reminded that it is still in a position not to ratify the agreement that it signed to approve the two nations’ entry into NATO.