Two days after setting aside his objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, Turkey’s president warned that he may still block the process if the two countries do not fully deliver on what he expects of them.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the end of the alliance summit in Madrid that the 10-article agreement with the two Nordic countries was a victory for Ankara and responded to all its “sensitivities”.
He stressed above all that the demand that Sweden and Turkey extradite terror suspects linked to proscribed Kurdish groups or the network of an exiled cleric accused of attempting a coup in 2016 be met.
But Erdogan said that if the Nordic countries renege on their promises, the Turkish parliament could refuse to ratify Tuesday’s deal. Entry into NATO requires the formal approval of all 30 member states, giving each the right to block it.
“This matter will not work if we do not pass it in our parliament,” Erdogan said. “First of all, Sweden and Finland must fulfill their duties that are already in the text… But if they do not fulfill them, of course we would not send it to our parliament in any way.”
Erdogan said Sweden had promised to extradite 73 “terrorists” to Turkey and crack down on the financial and recruiting activities of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and related groups. The United States and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist group. Turkey considers the Kurdish People’s Protection Units in Syria (YPG) an extension of the PKK.
The text of the memorandum does not include a specific number of extraditions. It says Finland and Sweden will respond to “pending deportation or (Turkish) extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly, taking into account information, evidence and intelligence provided” by Turkey, in accordance with the European Convention on Extradition.
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