Sweden, Finland have not approved repatriating 33 people to Turkey, Turkish state media reports

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ISTANBUL, May 16 (Reuters) - Sweden and Finland have not granted approval for the repatriation of 33 people that Turkey requested for alleged links to groups it deems terrorists, state media said on Monday, after Ankara opposed the two countries joining NATO.

Turkey says the people sought had links to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants or Muslim cleric Fethullan Gulen, whom Ankara accuses of orchestrating a 2016 coup attempt.

The two countries rejected 19 requests and left five without a response, state broadcaster TRT Haber said, citing the Justice Ministry, adding that nine requests were still being evaluated.