Finland and Sweden now have a Kurdish issue to call their own, after signing the trilateral memorandum with Turkey at the NATO summit in Madrid on 28 June, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Hişyar Özsoy said in an interview with the Mezopotamya Agency.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been trying to further militarise the Kurdish question and make the matter into a NATO issue, according to Özsoy.

Sweden and Finland’s bids to join NATO will still be a long process, as all member states must hold votes in their own parliaments for the approval, he said, adding that Turkey may still demand more concessions before the process is completed.

“Turkey may not, but Sweden does have separation of powers. The government cannot just tell a court to extradite so-and-so,” Özsoy said. “Courts cannot work under government directions there. Let the Turkish government demand Ragıp Zarakolu’s extradition – the Swedish government would change. There will be repercussions, it is not that easy.”

Several people who Turkey demands extradition for have had their asylum procedures completed and are now fully naturalised Swedish citizens. “It is not possible to extradite any person whose asylum requirements and international law has been met,” Özsoy said.

Turkey had argued that the anti-terrorism laws of the two countries were too lax and that they had effectively become safe havens for Kurds fleeing Turkey and Iran as well as other countries. Sweden has a small but vibrant Kurdish community of some 100,000 people, a significant portion of whom are political refugees and asylum seekers, and several Swedes of Kurdish origin are at various levels in politics.