Just two days after agreeing to raise objections to breaking the agreement on Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO, the Turkish president has warned that Ankara could still block the process if the two countries do not fully comply. their expectations.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said at the closing of the alliance summit in Madrid that the 10-item deal with the Nordic couple was a victory for Ankara and addressed all its “sensibilities”.
He highlighted in particular the satisfaction of Turkey’s demand in Sweden and Finland to extradite terrorism suspects with links to illegal Kurdish groups or the network of an exiled cleric accused of a failed coup in 2016 in Turkey.
But Erdogan added that if the two Nordic countries break their promises, Turkey’s parliament could refuse to ratify the agreement reached on Tuesday. NATO membership must be formally approved by the 30 member states, which gives each one a right to block.
“This business will not work if we do not approve it in our parliament,” Erdogan said. “First, Sweden and Finland have to do their homework and they are already in the text … But if they don’t do it, then of course there is no way to send it to our parliament.”
Erdoğan claimed that Sweden had promised to extradite 73 “terrorists” to Turkey and crack down on funding and recruitment activities for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – listed as a terrorist group by the US and the EU – and linked groups. . . Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to be an extension of the PKK.
The text of the memorandum does not set out a specific number of extraditions. He says Finland and Sweden will address the “pending requests for the expulsion or extradition of terrorism suspects from Turkey quickly and comprehensively, taking into account the information, evidence and intelligence provided” by Turkey in accordance with the European extradition agreement.
On Wednesday, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said the Swedish and Finnish justice ministries have files from Turkey on 33 people with alleged links to the PKK and the network of US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen.
Journalists repeatedly pressured Erdogan on Thursday about extraditions and whether Sweden had really promised the number he cited. He said the number of extradition requests had previously been 60, but had been upgraded to 73.
“Of course, what we understand is important from our meetings and conversations,” Erdogan said. “Sweden promised to give us these 73 people with this text. Whether they can or not, we will follow through on the text and make our decision. “
There was no immediate response to requests for comments from the Swedish delegation at the Madrid summit.
The Swedish government has tried to alleviate concerns that the deal would lead to extraditions to Turkey without due process.
“I know there are some people who are worried that we will start hunting people and extraditing them, and I think it’s important to say that we always follow Swedish laws and international conventions, and we never extradite Swedish citizens,” he said. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told public broadcaster SVT on Wednesday.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö stressed that Helsinki noted that the memorandum does not include the names of people.
“In the case of extraditions, we will adhere to our own legislation and international agreements. Ultimately, extradition is a legal discretion that politicians have no right to influence, “Niinistö said.
With the signing of the joint memorandum, NATO advanced by inviting the two Nordic countries to the military alliance that it seeks to expand and strengthen in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The longest part of achieving NATO membership is the ratification of the applicants’ accession protocols by the 30 member countries of the alliance. It is a process that involves national parliaments, and can take months.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country would launch the ratification process of the planned NATO membership of Sweden and Finland this week and conclude it “very quickly.”