Swe-Fin NATO Bids In Doubt As Sweden Reject Turkish Extradition Requests

A dispute between Turkey and Sweden continues to cast a shadow over Sweden and Finland's NATO accession bids after Sweden rejected Turkish demands to extradite four people Ankara claims were behind a 2016 coup attempt.

• Swedish news outlet TT reported today that the Swedish government will not extradite the four people sought by Turkey which included Turkish journalist Bulent Kenes whose extradition Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan set as a condition for Ankara's to ratify Sweden's bid to join NATO.
• Bloomberg: "Sweden has said it cannot meet such demands if they go against legal rulings, as the government has no sway over the judiciary."
• Reuters: "The extradition requests were made in 2019 and 2020, before Sweden and Finland signed a three-way agreement with Turkey aimed at overcoming Ankara's objections to the two Nordic countries joining the NATO military alliance."
• A spokesman for Erdogan said in a statement today: “We are stating again clearly that it is not possible for the NATO membership process to progress unless the activities of terrorist organizations are ended.”