The Turkish government has demanded both Finland and Sweden extradite 130 alleged terrorists as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan makes new demands for approval of NATO membership.
Turkish President Erdogan spoke on Sunday, saying that Finland and Sweden must deport 130 alleged terrorists to turkey in order for Turkey to proceed with approving the two countries for membership in NATO.
“First of all, they have to extradite nearly 130 terrorists for their applications to go through parliament. Unfortunately, they have not yet done so,” Erdogan said while in the city of Mugla, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reacted to President Erdogan’s comments on Monday saying, “Sweden has legislation when it comes to extraditions and we are sticking to it. There are demands coming from Turkey, they are being tested in the way they are going to be tried and that is nothing new.”
The demands come just days after an effigy of President Erdogan was hung upside down outside Stockholm city hall, increasing tensions between Turkey and Sweden.
While Turkey has called for Swedish authorities to act following the incident, prosecutor Lucas Eriksson stated that the case was not likely one of defamation and he was not willing to begin a preliminary investigation.
Finland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto also commented on the new demands saying, “This was certainly a reaction, this is how I think, to these events of the past few days,” referring to the effigy of Erdogan in Stockholm.
Jussi Halla-aho, former leader of the populist Finns Party and chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, added, “It makes no difference whether 30 or 130 people are required to be extradited because the same rules apply to every extradition and deportation request.”
“We have to be careful about how much we give in to demands. If we agree to this, new requirements may follow. We are ready to discuss everything with Turkey, but we will act within the framework of our own laws in every situation,” he added.
For Sweden and Finland to join the NATO military alliance, all members must agree to support their membership but Turkey has been especially hesitant on the issue since the two countries stated their intentions to join last year.
In May of last year, President Erdogan claimed that both Sweden and Finland harboured terrorists, including members and supporters of the terrorist Kurdistan Peoples’ Party (PKK).
“[T]he Scandinavian countries, unfortunately, are almost like guesthouses for terrorist organizations. PKK, DHKP-C are nested in the Netherlands and Sweden. I go further, they also take part in the parliaments there. It is not possible for us to have a positive look,” Erdogan said.