Helsinki can guarantee Ankara that ties with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party banned in Turkey will be monitored more closely, Pekka Haavisto said. At the same time, he ruled out the extradition of its members without justice.
⠀
Finland’s Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto expressed Helsinki’s readiness to guarantee Ankara that connections with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party banned in Turkey will be monitored more closely in the country. He stated this to the Finnish TV channel Yle.
⠀
“We can certainly give such guarantees to Turkey. Since the Kurdistan Workers’ Party is considered a terrorist organization in Europe, we must prevent terrorist activities in Finland as well,” he said.
⠀
However, the Finnish side cannot extradite Kurdistan Workers’ Party members or people associated with this organization to Turkey without justice, he said.
⠀
Turkey does not agree with the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO, seeking from these countries to extradite to it members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, recognized as terrorist in the republic, and to lift the arms embargo.
⠀
According to Haavisto, the issue with the Turkish side will be settled. However, he does not expect rapid progress.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said earlier that Stockholm “welcomes the possibility of cooperation in the fight against international terrorism” and supports the inclusion of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in the list of terrorists.
