According to information from Swedish TV, Swedish criminals are staying in Turkey, where they have been able to buy citizenship with money. Turkey refuses to extradite them to Sweden for trial.
STOCKHOLM Reporter of the Swedish public broadcasting company SVT (you switch to another service) Diamant Salihu got both contact and more information about criminals settled in Turkey who are accused of serious illegalities in Sweden.
The most famous case involves a 12-year-old Adriana’s murder. The girl died in 2020 from a stray shot by criminal gangs. The matter is currently being discussed at the Stockholm District Court. There are four defendants, one of them has fled to his parents’ homeland, Turkey.
The man has been arrested in absentia on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, and an international wanted notice has been issued for him. The 24-year-old is a citizen of both Sweden and Turkey. However, he has not been brought to court, because Sweden and Turkey do not have a bilateral extradition agreement.
According to the Turks met by SVT’s reporter, the man is currently staying in Istanbul and moving freely, although the Turkish judiciary knows about the international wanted notice and charges.
Swedish police chief Anders Thornberg there are a dozen similar criminals who fled to Turkey. Prime minister by Ulf Kristersson according to him, the matter was brought up by him and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meeting last month.
In a secret exchange of messages, one of Sweden’s wanted persons describes Turkey as a “paradise for gangsters”.
Citizenship with money
SVT’s reporter Salihu also managed to get in touch with the suspect of extensive drug trafficking, whose nickname is “Kurdiska räven” or Kurdish fox.
The Turkish police had arrested a man in the summer after a money bag found on a park bench led to his trail. Despite the international wanted notice, the man was released.
The man contacted by SVT by phone is unwilling to come to court in Sweden “because he has already been convicted”.
The man is originally from Iraq, but now says he is a citizen of Turkey, because he has invested in Turkey. According to SVT, citizenship can be obtained, for example, by buying an apartment worth at least 400,000 euros in Turkey.
One of the reasons for the citizenship trade is Turkey’s poor economic situation.
Erdogan’s assistant (you go to another service) Ibrahim Kalin agreed to be interviewed by SVT, but was enraged by suspicions that Turkey is protecting criminals. The interview ended short.
Since the NATO summit in June, President Erdoğan has demanded that Sweden and Finland send the Kurds they consider terrorists to Turkey. According to Erdogan, Turkey will not confirm or ratify NATO applications before that.
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