Swedish refusal of extradition request of FETÖ member negative: Çavuşoğlu
ANKARA
A Swedish court’s decision to reject Türkiye’s request for the extradition of a FETÖ member is very negative, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said, reminding that the Nordic state’s bid to join NATO requires concrete anti-terror steps, including the extradition of terrorists.
Çavuşoğlu also remarked that Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström will be in Türkiye for talks on Dec. 22 for talks over the accession process.
“The refusal of our extradition request of Bülent Keneş was a very negative development. We are not expecting good words from Sweden and Finland but concrete steps,” Çavuşoğlu said at a joint press conference with visiting Foreign Minister of Gambia Mamadou Gannara on Dec. 20.
Keneş was among the terrorists Ankara demanded from Stockholm in line with the trilateral agreement Türkiye, Finland and Sweden signed in late June for the two Scandinavian states’ entrance to NATO.
Çavuşoğlu recalled that the trilateral mechanism cites FETÖ along with the PKK and YPG and it is Stockholm’s responsibility to cooperate for the extradition of requested terrorists. Keneş, a former journalist, is accused of being a FETÖ member as one of the most prominent figures of the terror organization.
Türkiye, Sweden and Finland recently held meetings both at the political and technical level for the coordination of their admission into NATO. “Everyone must abide by the commitments outlined in the trilateral protocol,” Çavuşoğlu said.
Both countries have taken steps, and especially the new government in Stockholm has shown a positive approach so far, the minister said, “They even extradited one person although this person was not on our demand list. But if they think this will be enough, this is not a realistic assessment.”
Çavuşoğlu informed that he and Billström will hold talks on Thursday and appear before the press.
Twenty-eight states out of 30 NATO members have already ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland into the alliance. Türkiye and Hungary have not yet disclosed when exactly they will approve the Nordic states’ joining of NATO.
