Turkey has very high demands when it comes to what it considers suspected terrorists. They want countries to do more to bring back people they deem to be suspected terrorists back to Turkey. Turkey also demands more of Sweden and Finland when it comes to confronting Kurdish dissidents and activists,’ Visser explains.
At a previous NATO summit in Madrid, the two aspiring members had already promised improvements towards Turkey. But the southern European country has not yet given the green light. “Sweden has respected the agreements. They lifted the arms embargo on Turkey and stopped supporting Kurdish fighters in Syria. But that’s not enough for Turkey. They want people suspected of terrorism in Turkey extradited to them. This is a sensitive issue and it is for the judge to decide, not the Swedish government,” says Visser.
Because whoever is suspected of being a terrorist according to the Turks is sometimes actually a political refugee. An example of this is Bülent Kenes. «He was editor-in-chief of a newspaper in Turkey. That newspaper was shut down by Turkey in 2016 and many of his contributors have been jailed. After the coup in Turkey, Kenes too had to flee because he was seen as an accomplice to his columns ». According to Visser, the Turkish dissident can therefore expect three life sentences in Turkey.
Even Hungary has not yet given its approval
The former journalist was then granted political asylum in Sweden. “She is one of the people Turkish President Erdogan called by name to be extradited to Turkey. It is very difficult for Sweden to meet this requirement.’
NATO, meanwhile, is also impatient. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the time has come for countries to join. He therefore also increases the pressure on Turkey. Not only because of Stoltenberg’s statements, but also because only Hungary and Turkey have yet to approve membership». However, Visser stresses that Hungary will approve membership in January. As a result, all eyes are on Turkey.