Finnish delegation to visit Türkiye for talks on terrorists' extradition

By Kemal Karadag

ANKARA (AA) - A delegation from Finland will visit Türkiye next Tuesday to hold technical talks on the extradition of accused terrorists sought by Ankara, as stipulated in a recent treaty.

Finnish Justice Ministry officials will meet in the capital Ankara with a delegation headed by Kasim Cicek, director general of foreign relations and the European Union at the Turkish Justice Ministry.

During the meeting, Turkish officials will reiterate their request to the Finnish delegation to extradite members of two terrorist groups, the separatist PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the latter the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye. Evidence of the accused terrorists’ guilt will also be laid out in documents.

Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.

However, Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticizing the two countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.

The three countries signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding at NATO's June summit in Madrid, which stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the YPG/PYD – the PKK terrorist group's Syrian offshoot – or FETO.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the European Union, and the US, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. The YPG – which also has a presence in Europe, openly sanctioned by several governments – is the terrorist PKK’s Syrian branch.

The Nordic countries also agreed to address Ankara's pending deportation or extradition requests for terror suspects.

Türkiye's parliament must ratify the country's approval for Finland and Sweden's membership for them to join NATO.

* Writing by Diyar Guldogan in Ankara