In this video, host David Oualaalou explains why Sweden’s top court denied Turkey’s request to deport journalist Bulent Kenes, a Turkish‑descent media figure linked to the Gülen movement and accused by Ankara of involvement in the 2016 coup attempt. Oualaalou outlines the court’s reasoning that the alleged offense is a "political crime" and that extradition would risk prosecution based on political views. He then provides background on Kenes, the Gülen network, and Turkey’s broader campaign against perceived terrorism. The discussion shifts to Turkey’s leverage over Sweden and Finland’s NATO accession bids, describing how Ankara has used the deportation issue to pressure the Nordic states. Oualaalou notes recent related deportations, explains NATO’s unanimous‑approval rule, and ends by asking viewers whether Turkey will ultimately block Sweden’s NATO membership, inviting comments.
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Hello everyone, welcome to Geopolitical Trends. My name is David Oualaalou. Sweden's top court reject a deportation request for journalist that is what who is wanted by the Turkish government. In this video, I am going to provide you some insight as to why that is, but before I'll dive deeper, if you are new to this channel make sure to subscribe and don't forget to hit the notification button so you will be notified every time I upload a new video. And to, to my supporters and members, I want to say thank you very much for your support. I truly appreciate it. Let's dive in into this topic. Well, just yesterday— by the time you watch this video, it'll be about 2 or 3 days or so— Sweden's top court issued its decree or its final report that is rejecting the deportation of a journalist who is wanted by Turkey, the journalist of Turkish descent. So I'm gonna provide you his name and so forth. So Turkish government, basically what he wants, he wants the journalist by his, by the name Bulent Kenes. And the reason why they want him deported back to Turkey, because the Turkish government said that he is in connection, he's involved or was involved in the 2016 coup attempt, which basically there were about 650 people died into that. I, I did, uh, I was invited to a TV station to talk about this one back then, so I kind of remember. So, so this is why now the Supreme Court or top court that is on, uh, in Sweden, uh, rejected this deportation, saying— and they did provide a justification— and what they said, the courts that is, what they said is that the Scandinavian country, Sweden in this case, does not criminalize the act he is accused of committing. So that's the court decision. Excuse me. That's the court decision. So the state, the Supreme Court said Excuse me. The Supreme Court said, and I quote here, there were obstacles to extradition because it is a matter of so-called political crime. Example: crimes that are directed against the state and that are political in nature. End of quote. The court also added in its final report, uh, it added that a risk, there is a risk of prosecution based on the person's political view, end of quote. You know, if he is of course deported or returned back to Turkey. At that time when the report came out, the court, of course, because it's a legality of it, didn't disclose the name of the person. And however, the Swedish news agency by the name TNT, uh, identified his identity by releasing his name as Bulent Kenes, you know, and also disclosed that Turkey or Turkish government wants him in connection with the 2016 coup attempt, which confirmed what the court was saying basically. Well, who is this, uh, Bulent Kenes? You know, he's 55 years old. And he had asylum in Sweden a few years ago, you know, and he was the editor of the English language— it's called Today Zaman newspapers. Now here is where the kicker of all this, just for you, for a background for you to know why. This newspaper was owned by a network, Dawat Lang. To a US-based Muslim cleric by the name Fethullah Gülen. Well, Fethullah Gülen has been wanted by the Turkish government for decades, you know. And Fethullah Gülen, by the way, who went into self-imposed exile when he moved from Turkey, if I remember, back in 1999, uh, and settled in Pennsylvania, in a city called City Lordsburg. I used to live in Pennsylvania, so I was very familiar with his, uh, with his case back then. So Fethullah, there are some who say, well, he's dead. No, he's not. He's still alive as of today, and he's about 81 years old. I, I checked into that, by the way. His organization, Fethullah Gülen Organization, was closed down as part of a government crackdown, the Turkish government that is, on the group back then. So, and here is the thing, the Turkish government in Ankara blames Gulen for the failed coup that took place in 2016 and listed his network as a terror organization. So, which by— yeah, that's what the Turkish government is saying. So So for those who do not know the link between Sweden and Turkey and NATO, this is the background for it. Turkey has held up Sweden and Finland's request to join NATO. As you know, a few months ago, both Scandinavian countries wanted to apply for NATO, which I found very, very strange because They have— they, Sweden and Finland, coexisted with Russia for over 50 years. Back then it used to be Soviet Union. And when I wrote my Russia book, I disclosed a section about that one, and they lived in peace because they were neutral. So all of a sudden they changed course, whatever the reason for that is, whether they were pressured or not, I will leave that up to you to decide. So Turkey has held up the Sweden and Finland request to join NATO over what it claimed was their inadequate response to groups it considers, uh, or terrorist organization, including the alleged lack of cooperation on deportation. So when Sweden and Finland dropped the long-standing policies of military non-alignment and applied to join the Western military alliance in May, as I said, a few, few months ago. And this is when the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that his country, Turkey that is, will not approve the admission of Finland and Sweden. And the reason being because he accused both Nordic states Sweden and Finland in this case, of turning a blind eye on terrorism. So, and one thing you need to know as far as protocol for NATO, the way it works is that when a country is— applies— when a country applies for membership, all members of the alliance will have to approve it. So basically any decision on NATO enlargement requires unanimous approval of the alliance members, which are about 30, by the way. So, so Erdoğan, by the way, singled out Kenneth, this journalist, last month during the joint news conference with the Swedish Prime Minister when the latter visited Turkey. So of course Kenneth, who is now in exile in Sweden, welcomed the Supreme Court decision saying, and I quote here because I got his quotes exactly, he said, and I quote, I am happy of course, but the decision was expected, end of quote. He also added, and I quote, I am not completely satisfied because they say that I am suspected of crimes 'in Turkey. I have committed no crimes at all. These accusations are completely fabricated by Erdoğan's regime.' End of quote. But what happened a few months, a few weeks ago, actually a few weeks ago, Sweden deported an unnamed man, someone else who fled there after being convicted by a Turkish court of a membership in an armed organization in 2015. So Turkey sort of identified the individual as Mehmet, Mehmet Tat, Mehmet Tat, who had been sentenced now to more than 6 years in prison in Turkey. So it's very, very fluid situation as to what's going to be happening because Turkey basically, yes, they could not allow Finland or Sweden to become a member. And the other question that many will have to wonder about is why all of a sudden Finland and Sweden decided to become NATO members. As I said earlier, they lived for 50 years with the Soviet Union back then and Russia after 1991 in peace. I wonder what happened. So, so here is my question for you for today. Do you think Turkey will block Sweden's membership to NATO? Let me repeat, do you think Turkey will block Sweden's membership to NATO? Make sure to leave me some comments, and as I always remember, geopolitics influence your daily life in more way— in more ways than one. Till next time, guys, bye-bye.
