The Swedish government will not extradite four people sought by Turkey, which says they are connected to a U.S.-based cleric it accuses of being behind a coup attempt in 2016, news agency TT reported on Thursday, without citing sources.

The extradition requests were made in 2019 and 2020, before Sweden and Finland signed a three-way agreement with Turkey aimed at overcoming Ankara's objections to the two Nordic countries joining the NATO military alliance.

Sweden's High Court decided last summer the four could not be extradited, TT said, leaving the government no choice but to follow its decision.

Sweden's Foreign Ministry could not comment immediately on the report.

Turkey called a separate decision by the High Court in December to block the extradition of Turkish journalist Bulent Kenes a "very negative" development.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had singled out Kenes as a person Ankara wanted extradited from Sweden as a condition for Ankara's approval for Stockholm to join NATO.

Finland and Sweden both asked to join NATO in May 2022 in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but their bids require the approval of all 30 NATO member states, including Turkey.

(Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by Mark Potted)

Reuters