Erdogan is already tinkering with NATO deal on Sweden and Finland

The ink of the agreement with Turkey on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO has barely dried when it is already in jeopardy. President Erdogan said at a news conference on Thursday that Sweden and Finland have “promised to extradite 73 terrorists” to lift Turkey’s veto. If they do not keep their word, he will not send their applications to join the alliance to the Turkish parliament for ratification.

Now the memorandum does mention the extradition of terrorist suspects to Turkey, but no numbers are mentioned. Sweden and Finland pledge to “promptly and thoroughly process pending requests for deportation and extradition of terrorist suspects, taking into account information, evidence and intelligence provided by Turkey.” The agreement is interpreted very differently by Turkey on the one hand and Sweden and Finland on the other.

downplayed

How Erdogan arrived at the number of 73 is unclear. The Turkish press previously sung 33 names of terror suspects for whom Turkey had submitted an extradition request. “The Swedish and Finnish ministries of justice have files from Turkey of 33 people with suspected terrorist links,” Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Wednesday. “After this deal, we will write to them again and remind them.”

On the Swedish and Finnish sides, the promises to Turkey regarding extraditions are downplayed. The heads of government of both countries emphasize that judges must adjudicate on extradition requests and that their own legislation and international treaties remain valid. Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde told the newspaper Today’s News that this would not cause any problems.

So yes. Turkey sees Sweden in particular as a safe haven for terrorism. In recent years, thousands of members and supporters of the Kurdish terrorist group PKK and of Turkish cleric Fethullah Gülen, the alleged mastermind behind the failed coup in 2016, have been granted asylum in Sweden. Turkey believes that Sweden gives too much space to these groups. The first has been labeled a terrorist organization by Sweden, the second is not.

Different definitions

The problem is that Sweden and Turkey have very different definitions of terrorism. This was already apparent during the negotiations, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told AP news agency. “Turkey has its own definition, and we couldn’t agree on that because Turkish is broader than European or international definitions. Our red line is that we are not changing our legislation – in every area.”

A coffee break led to a breakthrough in the negotiations. But the definition issue is avoided in the memorandum. In Sweden, some laws and constitutional amendments are in the making, which partly meet Turkish demands. For example, membership of a terrorist organization is punishable. But its effect on extradition requests is unclear. Judges rejected previous requests because there was not enough evidence or the right to a fair trial is not guaranteed in Turkey.

Sweden has deported some suspected PKK members to Turkey in recent years after their asylum applications were rejected. One of them was Resul Özdemir, who was deported in 2020 despite facing a prison sentence in Turkey. According to Dagens Nyheter, the Swedish security service has a list of ten PKK suspects who could be deported. It is doubtful that Turkey will be satisfied with that.

A special joint mechanism with experts from the ministries of Justice, the Interior, Foreign Affairs and the intelligence services of the three countries is being set up to monitor the implementation of the agreement. Erdogan said he will closely monitor the implementation of the memorandum, and will take steps accordingly.

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