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The police’s secret report on Rawa Majid was leaked – to Majid’s own network, Aftonbladet has been able to reveal.
Now Turkey’s ambassador to Sweden is commenting on the information.
“If there has been a leak in Turkey, we will of course deal with it,” writes Yönet Can Tezel in a debate article.
In mid-September, Aftonbladet was able to reveal that top-secret information handed over to Turkey ended up with criminals in Sweden.
It was about a report from the police that would stop the multi-criminal suspect Rawa Majid, also called the “Kurdish fox”, and lead to an arrest.
But the information instead ended up in a mobile phone in Majid’s Foxtrot network.
The police’s theory is that the leak came from an unknown third party in Turkey. It is considered a serious violation of the rules for the exchange of information between countries.
The startling information is now being commented on by Turkey’s ambassador to Sweden, Yönet Can Tezel, who has written a debate article in Aftonbladet.
He states, among other things, that Turkey did not know that people like Rawa Majid, who now has Turkish citizenship and therefore cannot be extradited by Sweden, were criminals.
“Not known”
“Unfortunately, several people who are associated with gang violence in Sweden have made it to Turkey. Their criminal background was not known to Turkish authorities. Now the media in Turkey are angry about Swedish gangs shooting each other in Turkish streets,” he writes, among other things.
Yönet Can Tezel also writes that the media coverage in Sweden is spreading a wrong picture of Turkey’s actions in the issue of the leaked report, and that he became aware of the information via the media.
He continues:
“From what I understand, the Swedish police are now investigating the matter. If there has been a leak in Turkey, of course we will deal with it”.
Compare with terrorism
He also comments on the gang violence in Sweden and believes that society’s stresses as a result of it are “very comparable to the situation of millions of Turkish citizens who have suffered from another source of ruthless violence, terrorism” and then goes specifically into the terror-classified group PKK.
Yönet Can Tezel writes that “roughly a quarter/fifth of the million euros that the PKK annually collects in Europe through extortion and other criminal activities comes from Sweden”.
He points out that Sweden changed its terrorist legislation in the process towards NATO membership, but also writes that “certain PKK-affiliated groups” are testing Sweden’s resolve at the same time that the Turkish parliament is expected to consider approving Sweden becoming a member of NATO.
Weigh in new factors
In the debate article, the ambassador describes that Turkey was advised not to overreact to provocations from the groups. “But what happens with the violation of Sweden’s own law, which clearly prohibits “promotion” and “support” of terrorist organizations?”, writes Yönet Can Tezel.
He also writes that the updated Swedish terrorist act is much awaited now that the NATO process is entering its final phase. But also raises doubts:
“Honestly, while everyone in Sweden accepts the failure to prevent gang violence (resources, personnel, capacity, approach and so on) it is difficult to argue that the same system works well and sufficiently when it comes to fighting terrorist groups”.
He writes that Turkey is now forced to consider “also these factors” when “other issues” are brought into the Turkish-Swedish talks:
“Let’s hope that the new connections will not complicate things further,” he writes, concluding that he is “reasonably hopeful.”