Sweden, Finland must send up to 130 "terrorists" to Turkey for NATO bid, Erdogan says - Reuters

ANKARA, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Sweden and Finland indispensable deport oregon extradite up to 130 "terrorists" to Turkey earlier the Turkish parliament volition o.k. their bids to articulation NATO, President Tayyip Erdogan said.

The 2 Nordic states applied past twelvemonth to articulation NATO pursuing Russia's penetration of Ukraine but their bids indispensable beryllium approved by each 30 NATO subordinate states. Turkey and Hungary person yet to endorse the applications.

Turkey has said Sweden successful peculiar indispensable archetypal instrumentality a clearer stance against what it sees arsenic terrorists, chiefly Kurdish militants and a radical it blames for a 2016 coup attempt.

"We said look, truthful if you don't manus implicit your terrorists to us, we can't walk it (approval of the NATO application) done the parliament anyway," Erdogan said successful comments precocious connected Sunday, referring to a associated property league helium held with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson past November.

"For this to walk the parliament, archetypal of each you person to manus much than 100, astir 130 of these terrorists to us," Erdogan said.

Finnish politicians interpreted Erdogan's request arsenic an aggravated effect to an incidental successful Stockholm past week successful which an effigy of the Turkish person was strung up during what appeared to beryllium a tiny protest.

"This indispensable person been a reaction, I believe, to the events of the past days," Finland's overseas curate Pekka Haavisto told nationalist broadcaster YLE.

Haavisto said helium was not alert of immoderate caller authoritative demands from Turkey.

In effect to the incidental successful Stockholm, Turkey cancelled a planned sojourn to Ankara of the Swedish talker of parliament, Andreas Norlen, who alternatively came to Helsinki connected Monday.

"We accent that successful Finland and successful Sweden we person state of expression. We cannot power it," the talker of the Finnish parliament, Matti Vanhanen, told reporters astatine a associated quality league with Norlen.

Separately connected Monday Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson said that his state was successful a "good position" to unafraid Turkey's ratification of its NATO bid.

Erdogan's spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said connected Saturday that clip was moving retired for Turkey's parliament to ratify the bids earlier statesmanlike and parliamentary elections expected successful May.

Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Gareth Jones

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.