President of the Swedish Journalists’ Union: ” Shutting down Nordic Monitor is unacceptable”
During NATO negotiations with Sweden, it emerged that the Turkish government had demanded the closure of Nordic Monitor, a news website run by exiled journalists in Sweden, and the journalists’ union warned of the risk that the Turkish government could use Sweden’s NATO membership as a bargaining chip to target exiled Turkish journalists.
The Swedish Journalists’ Union also issued a statement of support for Nordic Monitor in response to the news. Ulrika Hyllert, president of the Swedish Journalists’ Union, said: “It is absolutely unacceptable to demand that the media in Sweden cease their activities. The Turkish government’s attack on journalists and media is a threat to our freedom of expression”.
The Nordic Monitor news website was founded in 2019 by Abdullah Bozkurt and Levent Kenez, who were forced to leave Turkey because of their journalistic work. The site is a media outlet that publishes investigative articles about the Turkish government, among other topics.
Court rejects extradition request
In 2020, Levent Kenez’s extradition to Turkey was requested and opposed by the Journalists’ Union and others. The Supreme Court also rejected Turkey’s request. Abdullah Bozkurt was beaten outside his home in 2020 and both journalists were subjected to smear campaigns by pro-regime Turkish media.