Türkiye demands Sweden expel Kurdish suspects before joining NATO

Sweden lifted a ban on arms sales to Türkiye and amended its anti-terrorism laws as part of a deal clinched last year to break the impasse. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaled last week, however, that those steps may not be enough to win Turkish support for the bid at the next NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.

 

Türkiye wants Sweden to begin extraditing or expelling suspects to prove it is serious about implementing the new rules, said the people, speaking on condition of anonymity to share sensitive information. Türkiye has demanded the extradition of more than 130 people, most of them Kurdish separatists.

 

They include alleged supporters of the Kurdish militant group the PKK, which is labeled a terrorist organization by the US and the European Union, as well as of affiliated Kurdish YPG forces in Syria and followers of US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Erdogan alleges Gulen plotted a 2016 coup attempt in Türkiye.

 

Türkiye’s government didn’t respond to a request for comment. The Swedish foreign minister’s office declined to comment.

 

Extradition requests to Sweden are handled by the country’s judiciary. The government can’t overrule decisions by its Supreme Court, which has rejected appeals from Türkiye on various grounds, including the risk of persecution.

 

NATO allies have repeatedly urged Türkiye to approve Sweden’s bid in time for the summit, saying the country meets all qualifications. The latest call came from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday.

 

“I firmly believe that Sweden should join Finland at the summit table as a new ally,” Scholz told the parliament in Berlin. “And I appeal to Türkiye’s re-elected President Erdogan to now clear the way for this - as we all decided together in Madrid last year.”