ANKARA - Independent Kurdish Swedish Member of Parliament Amineh Kakabaveh stated that 4 political asylum seekers were extradited to Turkey following the memorandum signed with Turkey and said, "It is my call to journalists, ask Sweden who was extradited to Turkey and why."
The Russia-Ukraine war has been instrumental in strengthening NATO, which is said to be out of date. The moves of the USA to include Ukraine in NATO and Russia's war against Ukraine brought European countries closer to NATO. Although Sweden and Finland's request to join NATO created controversy by AKP President Tayyip Erdogan, the "veto" card was shelved for now with the intervention of the USA. A memorandum agreement was signed between Sweden, Finland and Turkey. Although Erdogan's impositions over the Kurdish bargain are partially included in the memorandum, it is a question of whether it will work or not, but allegations that 4 Kurds have already been handed over have been made public.
Kurdish politician Amineh Kakabaveh, who is an independent MP in the Swedish Parliament, is one of the people whom the AKP government wants to be extradited, evaluated the inner reflections of Sweden wanting to be a NATO member to Mesopotamia Agency (MA).
Sweden was one of the neutral countries of Europe in terms of NATO membership. Why did they choose this neutrality?
There was a period of peace in Sweden that lasted for 200 years. But, the last 14-15 years of this were spent with right-wing governments, and in this process, the right-wing press carried out very serious propaganda activities about joining NATO. Now they have laid the groundwork to get what they want. They have the media support. They have the political space even the social democrats are involved in. Even if the left party expressed their opposition to NATO membership, they failed to raise their voice on this issue. The only party opposing NATO membership and raising its voice is the Green Party. All parties in Sweden changed their policies just because the USA wanted Sweden to join NATO. They are positioned in a place where they say 'yes' to everything they say 'no' to.
The main reason for joining NATO is the Russia-Ukraine war… Is this war really a threat to Sweden? What is the reason for a country that has maintained its neutrality for a long time to take such a decision?
Of course not. So let's go back and look at the Cold War. At that time the Soviets was very powerful. Sweden was weak, yet it did not have to take action with weapons as it does today. No such measure was required. Also, Russia is not the Soviets. Why is the threat not taken so seriously then, is taken so seriously now? The answer lies in capitalism. As you know, I describe myself as a Marxist. In my opinion, the main reason for this current situation is capitalism. Sweden's business and right-wing politicians want to trade in arms. The most tragic part is that the social democrats turned out to be worse than them. Today's politicians are actually business people. They do not have a goal of doing politics on the basis of ideology as in the past. They want the economy to grow, so they want to sell weapons. It was like this in many countries, it is like that in my country right now. Politicians are business people, not politicians. As a result, Sweden is laying the foundations of a tyranny like Erdoğan that violates human rights, imprisons journalists, murders women, and withdraws from the Istanbul Convention, rather than being a country that glorifies principles and human dignity.
Sweden's ministers and Prime Minister, who entered into these relations, talk about feminism, international solidarity and human rights. But according to the memorandum they signed, they can send the political immigrants who took refuge here even though they are sure that bad things will happen to them. First of all, this is against the Swedish Constitution. They have no such decision-making authority. They have absolutely no power over the court. Apart from their legal incompetence, it is not acceptable for them to sign such a memorandum morally.
Even though you are not a Turkish citizen, your extradition was requested. What happened in the Swedish Parliament after this request? What kind of discussions took place? How did the members of the parliament react to this request?
They did absolutely nothing. That's what's so concerning. Neither the government nor other parties did not even bother to react. The parties that approve NATO membership are the rich, the business people, politicians and the media. The human rights and all our values that they once glorified have been forgotten. However, there are many people who are worried about this situation with me. Refugees, Kurds, political asylum seekers, Turkish dissidents in exile in Sweden. We are all extremely worried. As you said, I am not from Turkey. I do not have any connection with Turkey. But Erdogan wants my extradition to Turkey and Swedish politicians do not say a word.
Will Sweden send back asylum seekers targeted by Erdogan?
Sending asylum seekers back to Turkey at Erdogan's request from here would be a disaster in terms of human rights. As I said before, this is not a decision that politicians can make, it is the court that has the authority to make this decision. Moreover, even if the court has made this decision, if there is a possible human rights violation as a result of the person's extradition to Turkey, if the person is in danger, if he or she will be subjected to torture, they cannot be sent back. The person who can be sent back despite the danger must have been tried and arrested by the Swedish courts at that time. This is the prerequisite. There are many jihadists and Islamists here right now. There are ISIS imams. They have rights like everyone else. Sweden does not even send these people back. But they talk about sending back political asylum seekers who are likely to be arrested and tortured in Turkey. This situation is against both our domestic law and international agreements. Such a situation could not have even existed in a country like Sweden before. Therefore, I do not consider this situation as a matter of NATO membership. This is a business deal. They made the Kurds and human rights, material for business deals.
Information that 4 people were extradited to Turkey by Sweden was reflected in the press. Have you had any knowledge on this?
We have heard that 4 people have been extradited to Turkey. We asked questions about who these people were and took some initiatives in that regard. We concluded that the information that 4 people were extradited is correct, but officials claim that these people are not on Erdogan's list. Yet they refuse to reveal who they are. In this sense, I have a call to press workers and journalists. You can reach Minister of Justice Sofie Rudh, Minister of Justice and Home Affairs Press Secretary Morgan Johansson and Ministry of Justice Press Coordinator at the following numbers. Please call them and ask who was extradited to Turkey and why. Landline: 08-405 10 00, Mobile: 072-545 74 21.
After the memorandum, an agreement was reached between Erdogan and US President Joe Biden on the modernization of F-16s. The arms embargo in Sweden sanctioned in 2019 was lifted. What does arms sales to Turkey mean?
We all know that Erdogan wants to have close relations with the USA and the EU. Because he needs both weapons and money from here. It plunged Turkey into a deep economic crisis. The Turkish lira has lost 70 percent of its value. Erdogan's votes are decreasing day by day. The people are in misery. As a result, he made the Middle East a market and coveted its resources. Again, we all know that Erdogan often garners votes over nationalism. The war Erdogan is trying to start is for nationalist votes inside. The negotiations with the USA and Europe are also to raise funds and weapons for this war. Erdogan wants to increase his popularity again and be ready for the upcoming election next year.
The Swedish government's vote of confidence is only possible with your vote. After Erdogan's statements about Sweden, you had contacts with the Swedish government. What promises were made to you?
The social democrats did not keep any of their previous promises. They acted in a way that even children should not act. We have reached some agreements regarding the Kurds in Rojava. Some promises were made. They did not keep these promises. The Kurds stopped ISIS, an international terrorist organisation that has plagued the whole world, in Rojava. They defeated the Caliphate. They saved themselves, the Middle East and the rest of the world. The world is a little safer place right now, thanks to the Kurds. Now they are throwing the Kurds into the heart of another war. The Kurds didn't just save themselves there. They also saved Christians and other minorities. This is a betrayal of the sacrifice of the Kurds. The relationship between Turkey and ISIS is not a secret. Was the rebellion started by ISIS in the prison just a coincidence when Turkey was about to bomb Syrian territory? Does anyone believe this? It was an attempt to save 12 thousand ISIS members to drive the Kurds from there. Who benefits from this, other than Turkey? Currently, there are more than 100,000 Kurds in Sweden. There are more than 1 million Kurds in Germany. Everyone knows that these people came here to escape torture, wrongful arrests and death. We were supporting these people during the hot war with ISIS, now is the danger over when ISIS is over? Why don't we stand with the Kurds, who fought against the most brutal terrorist organization of our time and saved the whole world from this danger?
How does the Swedish public react to these developments? What do they think about the NATO membership?
The Swedish people do not understand much about politics and they are very influenced by the media. We have been ruled by right-wing governments for 14 years and the media has taken a position accordingly. They recently conducted a survey on this. They asked several thousand people what they thought of NATO membership. The result of this survey showed that many people did not want Sweden to join NATO. The possibility of the rise of Islamist reaction and the possibility of Erdogan's policies to shape Sweden are very worrying. Apart from this, I should state that I have seen another difference based on my own experiences. I talked to thousands of people, asked questions via e-mail, text or face to face. While the majority of men support NATO membership, women are more concerned about these developments. The main problem is that people stay away from politics and do not know their rights. NATO membership is not something that the elected can decide, and as I said, the bias of the press fuels this situation.
If there was a free media, if the Swedish people knew about their rights, if they knew the possible consequences of this situation, we would encounter different reactions. But we are faced with a deep silence as a result of the media's incomplete and misinformation. In this sense, I would like to draw attention to the enormous role of the free press. People's consciousness are shaped by what they read. For the reasons I have mentioned, it is not possible to give a clear ratio/proportion regarding the reaction of the Swedish people to the issue. Currently, the press is propagandising that Sweden is on the brink of war, and the people are afraid. This fear determines their stance. However, Putin has not achieved anything in the war he started in Ukraine. What Putin is doing in Ukraine, Turkey is doing the same to the Kurds. European so-called democratic countries are negotiating with Erdoğan and see no harm in doing so. This is truly incredible. As well as being extremely worrisome, it's also nauseating.
MA / Gozde Cagri Ozkose