Türkiye presses Finland to extradite accused terrorists under NATO deal

By Kemal Karadag

ANKARA (AA) - Delegations from Türkiye and Finland on Tuesday met to discuss the extradition of accused terrorists sought by Türkiye under a NATO membership deal reached this June.

The closed-door meeting in the Turkish capital Ankara with Finnish Justice Ministry officials and a delegation headed by Kasim Cicek, the Turkish Justice Ministry chief of foreign and European Union relations, lasted six hours.

During the meeting, the Turkish officials reiterated 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 was also 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/PKK – 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.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag on Monday said that Finland and Sweden have to keep their promises to extradite terrorists if they want to join NATO.

"The (membership) process was started but not completed. Completion will be with the approval of the (Turkish) parliament. Therefore, the start of the process does not mean that the process is over unless it is approved by parliament. Parliament will have the final say," Bozdag said.

The Nordic countries have both 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