Sweden to extradite man wanted by Türkiye for fraud

Sweden agreed to extradite a man, wanted by Türkiye for fraud, while the Nordic country has yet to respond to Ankara's requests for terrorist extraditions.

Stockholm conveyed the Turkish Justice Ministry Thursday that it had accepted the extradition request of Okan Kale, who was convicted over fraud charges, according to sources from the Turkish Justice Ministry who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Swedish Justice Minister Morgan Johansson described the decision as a "routine matter," the country's state-run broadcaster SVT reported.

"The request for extradition was received last year. The Supreme Court has examined the issue as usual and concluded that there are no obstacles to extradition to serve his sentence," said Johansson.

The man, 35, was convicted of fraud offenses by Türkiye's Supreme Court in 2013 and 2016 and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

The Turkish citizen, who applied for asylum in Sweden in 2011, allegedly converted from Islam to Christianity and changed his name to Johan Gustavsson to avoid extradition.

Later on Thursday, the daily Samnytt published online in Sweden reported that the name of the person Sweden is preparing to extradite to Türkiye was Okan Kale.

Kale sought asylum in Sweden in 2011 after being accused of credit card fraud against three banks in Türkiye, but his request was denied.

In 2014, he was granted refugee status in Italy.

Kale received a temporary refugee residence card for two years in Italy. He then came to Sweden in 2016 and married a Swedish woman who is 23 years older than him. He got a residence and work permit in Sweden thanks to this marriage.

In October 2021, Ankara came into contact with the Swedish authorities through Interpol. Kale was arrested and imprisoned on the same date.

On the other hand, Türkiye has not received positive response to other requests for terrorist extraditions, such as members of FETO and PKK/YPG terror groups, over the last five years.

Sweden refused extraditing PKK members Mehmet Sirac Bilgin, Aziz Turan, Ragip Zarakolu, and Halef Tak, while granting citizenship to these people.

In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK-listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the US, and EU-has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants.

Stockholm did not respond to the requests from Ankara for the extradition of FETO members Harun Tokak and Bulent Kenes, as well.

FETO and its US-based leader Fetullah Gulen orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Türkiye, in which 251 people were killed and 2,734 injured.

Türkiye, Finland, and Sweden signed a memorandum this June on the Nordic countries' bids for NATO membership following four-way talks in Madrid.

The memorandum conditions Finland and Sweden to take steps on Türkiye's terrorism concerns and lifts an arms embargo on Ankara.

In return, Türkiye allows the Nordic countries to become NATO members.

Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said in a statement on July 6 that Türkiye has sent a letter to Sweden and Finland, reminding the demands for the extradition of terrorists.

The Turkish Justice Ministry, in line with court verdicts, requested from Finland the extradition of 12 terrorists-half affiliated with the PKK terror group, and half with the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the defeated coup of 2016, according to the Justice Ministry sources.

Likewise, during the same period, Sweden was asked to extradite 21 terrorists, 10 FETO members, and 11 PKK members.

However, Sweden and Finland, which have stated their intention to seek NATO membership, have not responded positively to requests from Türkiye-a NATO member for over 70 years-for the extradition of a total of 33 terrorists.

Out of 33 requests over the last five years, 19 were rejected while no response was provided for five others.

Meanwhile, the legal process on the extradition requests by Türkiye for nine other terrorists-two from Finland and seven from Sweden-is still underway.