Ankara renews extradition requests with Finland and Sweden

Türkiye renewed requests on Wednesday for Sweden and Finland to extradite individuals it considers terrorists after the countries reached a deal over the Nordic nations' NATO membership bids, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said.

Türkiye had opposed the two countries' bids over what it called support for YPG/PKK militants and others it views as terrorists, as well as over arms embargoes and unfulfilled extradition requests.

Last week, the three nations signed a deal for Ankara to remove its block, while the candidate countries pledged not to support the PKK and YPG terror groups or the FETO.

Ankara says the Gulen network staged a 2016 coup attempt and labels it a terrorist organisation with the acronym FETO.

"Within the framework of the agreement signed between Türkiye, Sweden and Finland at the latest NATO summit, a monitoring committee was established," Bozdağ said in a televised interview with HaberGlobal.

In the text signed last week, Finland and Sweden agreed to "address (Türkiye's) pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly...in accordance with the European Convention on Extradition".

"Accordingly, today we have renewed some requests that were rejected before, and reminded them of some requests that were not responded to," Bozdağ said.

Türkiye, a NATO member of more than 70 years standing with the alliance's second-biggest army, has long demanded that allies halt support for the YPG.

It has repeatedly traded barbs with the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands and others over the matter.