The journalist Bülent Kenes is one of more than 70 people that Turkey has demanded be extradited, if the country is to approve the Swedish application for membership in NATO. Turkey is the only NATO country, along with Hungary, which has not yet formally approved the membership applications of Sweden and Finland. Turkey has said that it is primarily Sweden that is the problem. They may be willing to approve the Finnish membership application before the Swedish one. From the official Swedish and Finnish sides, it has always been said that the countries want to join NATO together. Support for the Gülen movement? Turkish authorities believe Kenes has supported the Gülen movement, which they believe was behind an attempted coup in 2016. Bülent Kenes was the editor of the English-language newspaper Today’s Zaman, which was closed after the coup attempt. Kenes has also been sentenced in Turkey for allegedly “harassing” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Twitter. After the coup attempt in 2016, Kenes moved to Sweden. There he was granted political asylum. He has also applied for a permanent residence permit. Bülent Kenes has lived in Sweden since 2016. Photo: JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP Now the Supreme Court, which corresponds to the Norwegian Supreme Court, believes that the accusations that Turkey is bringing against Benes do not qualify as violations of Swedish law. The Supreme Court also believes that there is a clear risk that he will be persecuted because of his political opinion, if he is extradited to Turkey. The conclusion is therefore that an extradition to Turkey cannot take place. Erdogan: The terrorist must be extradited The demand to have Kenes extradited was made when Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met President Erdogan in November to discuss Sweden’s NATO application. – It is extremely important that Sweden extradite this terrorist, Erdogan said in connection with the meeting between the two in the Turkish capital, Ankara. During his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on November 8, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson received a clear order to extradite Bülent Kenes, Photo: ADEM ALTAN / AFP Bülent Kenes tells Sweden’s TV SVT that he is of course very happy with today’s decision in the Supreme Court, but that there are things in the decision that has now been taken that are not correct. – They write that I am suspected of breaking the law in Turkey. But I haven’t committed any crime whatsoever. The accusations are entirely fabricated by Erogan’s regime, says Bülent Kenes. NATO application out of the blue? He now hopes that he and his family will find peace after they have been subjected to tremendous pressure when Turkey accused him of being a terrorist and demanded his extradition. It is unclear whether today’s decision in the Supreme Court has any consequences for Turkey’s processing of the Swedish and Finnish NATO membership application. From the Turkish side, it has been suggested that a vote on this may be postponed over the election for a new parliament on 18 June 2023.
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Sweden refuses extradition – NATO membership may be postponed for a year – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
