Turkey says it expects more extraditions from Sweden before approving its NATO bid

Sweden’s extradition to Turkey last week of a Kurdish man with alleged terrorism links is a “good start”, but Stockholm needs to do more before Ankara can approve its NATO membership, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Monday.

Sweden on Friday deported Turkish citizen Mahmut Tat, who had sought asylum in Sweden in 2015 after being sentenced in Turkey to six years and 10 months in jail for alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“This is a good start from Sweden that shows their sincerity and goodwill. We hope new [extraditions] will follow in line with this sincerity,” Bozdag said in a televised interview with state broadcaster TRT Haber.