Turkey asks Sweden to extradite Kurdish leader in third attempt to have Salih Muslim arrested
Turkey has submitted to Sweden a formal request for extradition of a Syrian Kurdish leader, after two previous unsuccessful bids for the arrest of Salih Muslim in the Czech Republic and Germany.
Turkish media reported on Thursday that Ankara had asked Stockholm to detain and extradite Muslim, a former co-leader of major Kurdish group the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said it could not comment on Muslim’s whereabouts. A Swedish source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Muslim had been in Stockholm but had already left the country.
The extradition request for Muslim is the third issued by Turkey in the past two weeks.
Muslim was arrested in Prague on February 24 while he was attending a political conference. Authorities arrested him based on an Interpol red notice requested by Turkey. But much to the dismay of Turkey, a Czech court later released Muslim, allowing him to attend a major event in Germany to protest Turkey’s ongoing military presence in northern Syria. Ankara asked Germany on Friday to hand over Muslim and authorities promised a review of the case.
Turkey has accused Muslim of involvement in two terror attacks in the capital Ankara that killed dozens. However, the Kurdish leader is wanted mainly due to his opposition to Turkey’s crackdown against Kurds both inside Turkey and in Syrian territories.
Turkey views the PYD, and its armed wing the People's Protection Units (YPG), as an extension of outlawed Kurdish militant groups operating in southern Turkey.
Ankara launched a massive military operation in January 20 to push back the YPG from the Syrian region of Afrin. The operation has hardly achieved its objectives while it has met fierce criticism from both the Syrian government and the United States, which backs Syrian Kurdish militants.
Muslim has promised to remain in the European Union territory and cooperate in any further proceedings.
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