Stockholm insisted that any decisions regarding the possible extradition of terrorist suspects following a deal with Ankara on Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership would be made by "independent courts."
"In Sweden, Swedish law is applied by independent courts. Swedish citizens are not extradited. Non-Swedish citizens can be extradited at the request of other countries, but only if it is compatible with Swedish law and the European Convention," Justice Minister Morgan Johansson said in a written statement to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In his statement, Johansson insisted it was Sweden's Supreme Court "that makes that examination and has a veto. That system is still valid. It is clearly stated in the agreement that we comply with the European Convention on Extradition, which Sweden, Finland and Turkey have signed."
The comments come after Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said on Wednesday that Turkey will renew requests for Sweden and Finland to extradite individuals it considers terrorists after the countries reached a deal over the Nordic nations' NATO membership bids.
"The dossiers of six PKK members and six FETÖ members await in Finland, while those of 10 FETÖ members and 11 PKK members await in Sweden. We will write about their extradition again after the agreement and remind them," Bozdağ said.
On Tuesday, Turkey, Finland and Sweden signed a deal for Ankara to remove its block of the Nordic countries’ NATO membership, while the candidates pledged not to support the PKK terrorist group, its extensions or the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which staged a 2016 failed coup attempt.
The agreement addresses Ankara's three main concerns with Finland and Sweden: the lifting of weapons export restrictions to Turkey, a hard line on the PKK and its affiliates, and the extradition of terrorist suspects.
In the memorandum text the three countries signed on Tuesday, Finland and Sweden agreed to "address (Turkey's) pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly ... in accordance with the European Convention on Extradition."
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday told Sweden and Finland that he could still block their drives to join NATO if they fail to implement a new accession deal with Ankara.
Erdoğan said that Sweden had promised Turkey to extradite 73 terrorists.
