Turkey demands extradition of former Kurdish militia member living in Sweden

Amna Nawaz:

Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson will step down tomorrow after conceding defeat in the country's general election. Final results show that a right-wing coalition with an anti-immigrant agenda has a narrow enough majority to form a government.

This seismic shift in Swedish politics could have serious implications for dozens of Kurdish asylum seekers in the country. Turkey has demanded their extradition as the price for Sweden's bid to join NATO.

From Northern Sweden, special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports.

Malcolm Brabant:

I'm on a long, slow drive-through some of the world's most tranquil countryside to hear a human story behind one of Europe's most burning geopolitical issues. We're on the road to Northern Sweden, close to the Arctic Circle.

Sweden's military status is on the verge of changing dramatically. After 200 years of neutrality and avoiding conflict. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed Sweden into joining NATO, but its accession is in the balance because of a small group of people on Turkey's most wanted list.

We're heading north to meet one of those people whose fate could determine whether Turkey uses its veto to block Sweden's ambitions.

Derdiye Yul is 41 years old and pregnant with her fourth child. Exiled Kurdish leaders say, of all the people that Turkey demands be extradited, Yul is the most vulnerable. She fled here in 2015 to claim political asylum. The process is in the balance because the Swedes won't accept her documentation.

Derdiye Yul, Wanted PKK Member (through translator):

Even to say you're Kurdish in Turkey is a risk. You can be imprisoned for it. For someone who has stayed with the PKK, it means torture and death in Turkey.

Malcolm Brabant:

Yul lives in fear that Turkish agents will kidnap her from her rural hideaway. She's refusing to go to the Turkish Embassy to obtain papers required by the Swedes, because she thinks she will disappear.

Yul joined the Kurdish Workers' Party, the PKK, when she was 19 years old. The PKK is labeled as a terrorist organization by both the U.S. State Department and the European Union. Later, Yul says, she joined the YPJ, the Kurdish female defense force, and took part in battles against Islamic State in Syria.

Despite her part in ultimate victory over ISIS, Yul is afraid that Sweden will sacrifice its human rights principles to appease Turkey.

Derdiye Yul (through translator):

I'm a mother of three children. So, of course, I'm particularly afraid for my children.

Malcolm Brabant:

Yul's fears based on assurances given to Turkey by Sweden's most senior ministers.

Magdalena Andersson, Swedish Prime Minister:

We take Turkey's concerns very seriously on all their issues, and not the least their security concerns when it comes to the fight against terrorists.

Ann Linde, Swedish Foreign Minister:

In the memoranda, we assured Turkey that we would take the fight of terrorism seriously. And all the requests for extradition will go the normal way.

Malcolm Brabant:

Turkey and Sweden now must engage in tough negotiations to thrash out fine details of the memorandum agreed at June's NATO summit in Madrid, when Sweden and Finland's applications to join were approved by the alliance's leaders.

Turkey's senior diplomat in Stockholm insists they will not permit the Swedes to water down commitments on terrorism. Oznur Ozkan is the deputy head of mission.

Oznur Ozkan, Deputy Head, Turkish Embassy:

That document is not a document just with vague obligations or just wishful thinking. There are clear obligations, there are clear mechanisms that we are going to establish.

Malcolm Brabant:

Is this a straightforward issue for Sweden, basically, because — do you think their desire to join NATO is greater than their desire to protect perhaps a handful of people?

Oznur Ozkan:

Of course. Oh, yes, it goes without saying, yes, of course. I think that's the most important thing. As I repeat it, I mean, Sweden signed this document.

Malcolm Brabant:

Yul's image as a rural Swedish mother sharply contrasts to her depiction by the Turks as a terrorist, but patriotic Kurdish songs on the television offer a glimpse of her identity.

Are you a terrorist?

Derdiye Yul (through translator):

As far as Turkey is concerned, I am a terrorist. But it's important to understand that it was the Turkish army that forced me to leave our villages and to join the PKK. It was the Turkish army that stormed and destroyed our villages, killed children and raped women.

The Turkish state forced me into the life I have had.

Malcolm Brabant:

Fears over potential extradition have triggered pro-PKK demonstrations in Stockholm. The protests infuriated Turkey, which interpreted them as Swedish tolerance of terrorism.

As far as you're concerned, is Derdiye Yul a terrorist?

Oznur Ozkan:

The thing is, I don't want to make comments about this person or that person, really. I mean, there are terrorists, yes, in Sweden who took advantage of the system. And so we are — yes, we want some people to be extradited.

Malcolm Brabant:

Sweden is home to an estimated 150,000 Kurdish exiles.

Kurdo Baksi, Social Commentator:

Kurdish nation sees Sweden as a mother, and now the mother has beaten the children. They don't understand what the mother has done.

Malcolm Brabant:

Kurdish social commentator Kurdo Baksi is horrified by what he perceives as Swedish capitulation.

Kurdo Baksi:

The Swedish people, they are more afraid of Putin than something, anything else. If they believe that Putin are more dangerous than Erdogan, so they will do what Erdogan wants to do.

Malcolm Brabant:

That despair is shared by Pierre Schori, Sweden's former ambassador to the United Nations. He says he's embarrassed.

Pierre Schori, Former Swedish Ambassador to the United Nations: I see now that, after months of talks between the two governments, it's grand slam for Erdogan and shame for Sweden and betrayal to Kurdish democrats.

Malcolm Brabant:

Do you think that Turkey really has the whip hand here? Do you not think that Sweden is going to stand up for its principles over protecting people who have come to seek sanctuary?

Pierre Schori:

The so-called trilateral agreement between Turkey and Sweden and Finland says differently.

Malcolm Brabant:

But there is a completely different perspective from Berlin and the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

Analyst Dr. Salim Cevik everyone is using the Kurdish issue to push the United States to sell him the F-35 fighter jet.

Dr. Salim Cevik, German Institute for International and Security Affairs: So, Turkey wants fighter jets more than anything else.

Malcolm Brabant:

Turkey's aging air force needs the F-35 Lightning. The country was kicked off the F-35 program after buying a Russian missile defense system.

Dr. Salim Cevik:

It's basically an open-ended bargaining process between Erdogan and the United States. He's bargaining whatever he can get.

Malcolm Brabant:

So, as always with NATO, the big decisions rest on American action.

Kurdo Baksi:

The United States has to say to Turkey that the Kurds are not terrorists. They are just victims. They save the world from Da'esh, ISIS, and the world has to thank them.

Malcolm Brabant:

The tranquillity of a warm Swedish morning is disturbed by shell fire from a game entertaining Derdiye Yul's eldest son.

She wants to raise her family in peace and has this message for President Biden.

Derdiye Yul (through translator):

My message is that Erdogan's Turkey kills women and kill civilians, and they do this in the name of Erdogan saying they're supposedly fighting terror and terrorists. In the last few years, particularly, the U.S. has gotten to know Kurds on their own terms in the fight against ISIS, not on Erdogan's terms.

Malcolm Brabant:

Derdiye Yul has a background of fighting against the odds. And if her latest battle means keeping Sweden out of NATO, then, as far as she's concerned, so be it.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Northern Sweden.