. | . |
Turkey says first Swedish extradition falls short of demands by AFP Staff Writers Istanbul (AFP) Aug 18, 2022 Turkey's justice minister Thursday said Sweden's pledge to extradite a Turkish convict fell far short of Stockholm's commitments under a deal paving the way for its NATO membership bid. NATO member Turkey is threatening to freeze Sweden's attempts to join the Western defence alliance unless it extradites dozens of people Ankara accuses of "terrorism". A non-binding deal Sweden and fellow NATO aspirant Finland signed with Turkey in June commits them to "expeditiously and thoroughly" examine Ankara's requests for suspects linked to a 2016 coup attempt and outlawed Kurdish militants. The Swedish government said earlier this month that it would extradite Okan Kale -- a man convicted of credit card fraud who appeared on a list of people sought by Ankara published by Turkish media. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag told the conservative Milliyet news site that Sweden needed to do far more to win Turkey's trust. "If they think that by extraditing ordinary criminals to Turkey they will make us believe that they have fulfilled their promises, they are wrong," Bozdag said in the first government response to the extradition decision. "Nobody should test Turkey." Bozdag is seen as one of the more hawkish members of Erdogan's government. The powerful Turkish leader himself has warned that he will not submit the two countries' applications for ratification in parliament unless they comply with his extradition demands in full. Erdogan said in July that Sweden had made a "promise" to extradite "73 terrorists". The Turkish justice ministry in June formally requested the extradition of 21 suspects from Sweden and 12 from Finland. Sweden and Finland ended decades of military non-alignment and decided to try and join NATO in response to Russia's February invasion of Ukraine. Their bids have already been ratified by the United States and more than half of the 30 members of NATO. Each application must win unanimous consent from member states. Sweden and Finland are due to hold their first formal consultations with Turkey about the dispute on August 26. The Swedish foreign ministry on Thursday denied a local media report saying that the meeting will be held in Stockholm. No official venue for the talks has been set.
Finland says Russian fighter jets 'suspected' of violating airspace Helsinki (AFP) Aug 18, 2022 Two Russian fighter jets are believed to have violated Finnish airspace on Thursday, Finland's defence ministry said, as the Nordic country seeks NATO membership following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "Two Russian MIG-31 fighters are suspected of having violated Finnish airspace in the Gulf of Finland off Porvoo," the ministry said in a statement. The Finnish Air Force sent up "an operational flight mission" to identify the aircraft, it said, adding that the Finnish Border Guard had started "a ... read more
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |