Finnish delegation to visit Turkey for talks on Ankara’s extradition requests

Finnish delegation to visit Turkey for talks on Ankara’s extradition requests
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Finnish justice ministry officials will meet with a delegation from the department of foreign relations and the EU at the Turkish Justice Ministry

A delegation from Finland will visit Turkey on Tuesday to hold talks on the extradition requests of Ankara for the individuals whom Turkey accuses of supporting terrorism, Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu said

Finnish justice ministry officials will meet in the capital Ankara with a delegation from the department of foreign relations and the EU at the Turkish Justice Ministry.

Anadolu said that the talks will focus on the extradition of individuals Turkey regards as terrorists.

Sweden and Finland officially applied for NATO membership in May, after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on February 24. While the vast majority of NATO members welcomed Sweden’s and Finland’s bids, Turkey, the second largest army in the alliance, opposed the two countries’ memberships, citing their failure to combat threats to Turkey’s security.

After Sweden and Finland promised to address Ankara’s pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects, Turkey dropped its objections against Sweden and Finland’s membership applications, allowing the military organization to formally invite the two countries for membership at a Madrid summit in June. 

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

Swedish government said it “stepped up concrete action” in counter-terrorism efforts against Kurdish militants in a letter sent to Ankara dated October 6, Reuters revealed. 

The letter gave 14 examples of steps taken by Sweden to show it "is fully committed to the implementation" of a memorandum it signed with Turkey in June, to make Turkey lift its veto of Sweden’s NATO bid.