German chancellor urges Erdogan to join NATO

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged President Tayyip Erdogan to pave the way for Sweden’s NATO membership.

Sweden, along with Finland, applied for NATO membership last year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Turkey opposed Sweden’s NATO membership. Turkey demanded that Sweden take a clear stance against PKK members and FETO to object and extradite the people for whom a search warrant was issued. Sweden, for its part, announced that it had taken concrete measures in response to these demands.

Finally, Erdogan stated that he maintains his position against Sweden’s entry into NATO and that no change should be expected at the NATO summit to be held next month.

According to the text of his speech to parliament, Scholz also warned China against forcibly changing the status quo in Taiwan. Scholz hosted a Chinese delegation led by Premier Li Qiang this week as part of the first face-to-face summit since the pandemic, at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions between Western countries and China. (Reuters)