Thu. Dec 19th, 2024

NNA -nbsp;NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg will visit Turkey at the weekend to attend the inauguration ofnbsp;re-elected President Recep Tayyip Erdogannbsp;and hold talks with him, the alliance said Friday.

The trip comes as pressure builds on Erdogan to drop his opposition to Sweden joining NATO.

Stoltenberg on Thursday said during a NATO foreign ministersrsquo; meeting in Norway that he would soon visit Ankara to work toward Sweden joining ldquo;as early as possible,rdquo; after speaking with Erdogan by phone earlier this week.

The NATO statement said Stoltenberg would attend Erdoganrsquo;s inauguration on Saturday. The Turkish president was last week re-elected to serve another five-year term.

The statement said the visit would extend into Sunday and Stoltenberg would ldquo;have bilateral meetings with President Erdogan and with senior Turkish officials.rdquo; — AFP

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