Sweden and Finland have not yet extradited suspected Kurdish militants to Turkey as part of a deal that would grant the Nordic nations Nato membership, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday.
Further details on his comment were not immediately available.
Turkey has accused Sweden and Finland of providing a haven for Kurdish militants but it has agreed to drop its veto of the countries' Nato applications in exchange for the militants' extradition on terrorism-related charges.
While Turkey has not set a firm deadline, it has said it expects 73 people to be extradited as soon as possible and that it is monitoring the situation closely.
Turkey has said it will block the Scandinavian countries' Nato membership bids if the pledges are not kept.
“Sweden maintains an ongoing dialogue with Turkey and Finland on the trilateral agreement which Sweden is following and will carry out in full in accordance with Swedish and international law,” a spokesman from Sweden's foreign ministry said.
Turkey's foreign ministry summoned the Swedish embassy's chargé d'affaires in Ankara to convey its “strong reaction” to what it called “terrorist propaganda” put on display during a Kurdish group's protest in Stockholm, diplomatic sources said at the weekend.
Officials from Turkey, Finland and Sweden will meet in August to evaluate the progress in meeting Ankara's demands.
While Turkey holds off on its ratification of the two countries' membership bids, 18 of Nato's 30 members have already approved Sweden's application to join the alliance.
Sweden and Finland made their bids to join Nato following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey dropped its veto to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance late on June 28, putting them on a fast-track for membership.
Its main concern had been over Finland and Sweden’s tolerance of the PKK, a Kurdish nationalist organisation widely designated as a terror group.
Finland’s 1,300-kilometre border with Russia means that Moscow will have a border with Nato and that the alliance's border will stretch from the Arctic to the Mediterranean Sea.
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the admission of the two countries would chart a blueprint for the alliance “in a more dangerous and unpredictable world”, change regional security and strengthen the alliance's presence in Europe.
Both countries bring formidable military power, with the Finnish military able to put up to 240,000 soldiers on to a war-footing in a short period of time.
Its navy in the Baltic Sea is also being reinforced with new frigates and it has signed a deal to buy 64 F-35 stealth fighter jets from the US.
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Coffee: black death or elixir of life?
It is among the greatest health debates of our time; splashed across newspapers with contradicting headlines - is coffee good for you or not?
Depending on what you read, it is either a cancer-causing, sleep-depriving, stomach ulcer-inducing black death or the secret to long life, cutting the chance of stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The latest research - a study of 8,412 people across the UK who each underwent an MRI heart scan - is intended to put to bed (caffeine allowing) conflicting reports of the pros and cons of consumption.
The study, funded by the British Heart Foundation, contradicted previous findings that it stiffens arteries, putting pressure on the heart and increasing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke, leading to warnings to cut down.
Numerous studies have recognised the benefits of coffee in cutting oral and esophageal cancer, the risk of a stroke and cirrhosis of the liver.
The benefits are often linked to biologically active compounds including caffeine, flavonoids, lignans, and other polyphenols, which benefit the body. These and othetr coffee compounds regulate genes involved in DNA repair, have anti-inflammatory properties and are associated with lower risk of insulin resistance, which is linked to type-2 diabetes.
But as doctors warn, too much of anything is inadvisable. The British Heart Foundation found the heaviest coffee drinkers in the study were most likely to be men who smoked and drank alcohol regularly.
Excessive amounts of coffee also unsettle the stomach causing or contributing to stomach ulcers. It also stains the teeth over time, hampers absorption of minerals and vitamins like zinc and iron.
It also raises blood pressure, which is largely problematic for people with existing conditions.
So the heaviest drinkers of the black stuff - some in the study had up to 25 cups per day - may want to rein it in.
Rory Reynolds
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
