However, Stockholm refused to extradite a Swedish citizen whom the Turkish judiciary has accused of membership in a “terrorist organization”. “A Swedish citizen must not be extradited,” wrote the Ministry of Justice as its reasoning.
The extradition of people wanted by the Turkish judiciary is one of the issues on which Turkey has so far refused to agree to Sweden’s bid to join NATO.
In general, Ankara is demanding tougher action from the government in Stockholm against Kurdish activists in Sweden, whom it describes as “terrorists”. Altun’s extradition, which has now been granted, is conditional on his case being heard again in court in Turkey.
The Swedish Ministry of Justice only approved Altun’s extradition after the Supreme Court gave the green light. According to the written decision made on March 30 the government now sees “no longer any obstacles to extradition”.
Sweden had agreed to at least two Turkish extradition requests since filing jointly with Finland for NATO membership in May 2022. However, Stockholm still has refused to extradite several other people wanted by the Turkish judiciary.
One of them is the former editor-in-chief of the Turkish newspaper Zaman, whom Ankara accuses of involvement in the 2016 coup attempt.
The Turkish parliament finally approved Finland’s admission at the end of March, and the country has officially been part of the military alliance since this week. In addition to Turkey, Hungary has so far blocked Swedish NATO membership.