Finnish delegation to visit Türkiye for talks on terrorists' extradition

A delegation from Finland will visit Türkiye to hold technical talks on the extradition of accused terrorists sought by Ankara, as stipulated in a recent treaty.

Finnish Justice Ministry officials will meet in the capital Ankara next Tuesday with a delegation headed by Kasim Cicek, director general of foreign relations and the European Union at the Turkish Justice Ministry.

During the meeting, Turkish officials will reiterate their request to the Finnish delegation to extradite members of two terrorist groups: the PKK and the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

Evidence of the accused terrorists’ crimes will also be laid out in documents. 

Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by Russia's war on Ukraine.

However, Türkiye, a NATO member for over 70 years, voiced objections to the membership bids, criticising the two countries for tolerating and even supporting terrorist groups.

READ MORE:'Keep your promise to get into NATO' - Erdogan reminds Sweden, Finland

Turning promise into action

Türkiye's parliament must ratify the country's approval for Finland and Sweden's membership for them to join NATO.

The three countries signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding at NATO's June summit in Madrid, which stipulates that Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the YPG/PYD — the PKK terrorist group's Syrian offshoot — or FETO.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the European Union, and the US, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children, and infants. 

The YPG — which also has a presence in Europe, and sanctioned by several governments — is the PKK’s Syrian branch. Meanwhile, the FETO group was behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye. 

The Nordic countries agreed to address Ankara's pending deportation or extradition requests for terror suspects.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that he had also agreed to meet with Sweden’s new prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, in Ankara.

READ MORE: Türkiye, Sweden kick off talks on extradition of terrorists