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Erdogan Says 'No' to Sweden and Finland's NATO Bid

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 3, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 3, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
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Erdogan Says 'No' to Sweden and Finland's NATO Bid

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 3, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 3, 2022. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Turkey will oppose Sweden and Finland joining NATO, the country's president flatly stated in a video released Thursday.

“We have told our relevant friends we would say ‘no’ to Finland and Sweden’s entry into NATO, and we will continue on our path like this,” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a group of Turkish youth in the video for Commemoration of Atatürk, Youth and Sports Day, a national holiday.

Turkey’s approval of Finland and Sweden's application to join the Western military alliance is crucial because NATO makes decisions by consensus. Each of its 30 member countries has the power to veto a membership bid.

Erdogan has said Turkey's objection stems from grievances with Sweden's - and to a lesser degree with Finland’s - perceived support of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and an armed group in Syria that Turkey sees as an extension of the PKK.

Turkey also accuses Sweden and Finland of harboring the followers of Fethullah Gulen, whom the Turkish government blames for 2016 military coup attempt.

In the remarks, Erdogan accused the two prospective NATO members and especially Sweden of being “a focus of terror, home to terror.”

He accused them of giving financial and weapons support to the armed groups, and claimed the countries' alleged links to terror organizations meant they should not be part of the trans-Atlantic alliance.

The United States struggled Wednesday to get clarity from Turkey over the severity of its opposition to Finland and Sweden joining NATO.

In a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the United Nations, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu offered mixed signals. He affirmed his country’s support for NATO’s “open-door” policy and its understanding of Finland and Sweden's desire to join the alliance following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But he also repeated Erdogan’s demands that Turkey’s security concerns about the candidate nations be addressed.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Berlin on Sunday after discussions with Turkish officials that “Turkey has made it clear that their intention is not to block membership.” Meanwhile, Blinken and other foreign ministers, including Germany’s top diplomat, Annalena Baerbock, expressed absolute confidence that all NATO members, including Turkey, would welcome the two newcomers.

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World

Magnitude 7.6 Quake Triggers a Tsunami on Japan’s Northern Coast

A tsunami warning flashes over live footage of a waterfront area, on a television screen in Sapporo, in Japan's northern Hokkaido prefecture on December 9, 2025. (AFP)
A tsunami warning flashes over live footage of a waterfront area, on a television screen in Sapporo, in Japan's northern Hokkaido prefecture on December 9, 2025. (AFP)
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Magnitude 7.6 Quake Triggers a Tsunami on Japan’s Northern Coast

A tsunami warning flashes over live footage of a waterfront area, on a television screen in Sapporo, in Japan's northern Hokkaido prefecture on December 9, 2025. (AFP)
A tsunami warning flashes over live footage of a waterfront area, on a television screen in Sapporo, in Japan's northern Hokkaido prefecture on December 9, 2025. (AFP)

A powerful 7. 6-magnitude earthquake struck late Monday off northern Japan, triggering a tsunami of up to 50 centimeters (20 inches) in Pacific coast communities and warnings of potentially higher surges, the Japanese Meteorological Agency said.

Several people were injured, media reports said.

The quake struck at about 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT) in the Pacific Ocean about 80 kilometers (50 miles) off the coast of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture of Japan's main Honshu island, the agency said.

A tsunami of 50 centimeters was measured in Kuji port in Iwate prefecture, just south of Aomori, and tsunami levels of 40 to 50 centimeters struck other coastal communities in the region, the agency said.

The agency issued an alert for potential tsunami surges of up to 3 meters (10 feet) in some areas, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihar urged residents to immediately head to higher ground or take shelter inside buildings or evacuation centers until the alert is lifted.

Several people were injured at a hotel in the Aomori town of Hachinohe and a man in the town of Tohoku was slightly hurt when his car fell into a hole, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Kihara said nuclear power plants in the region were conducting safety checks and that so far no problems were detected.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in brief comment to reporters, said the government set up an emergency task force to urgently assess the extent of damage. “We are putting people’s lives first and doing everything we can,” she said.

The quake struck about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Hachinohe, and about 50 kilometers (30 miles) below the sea surface, the meteorological agency said.

World

Iran Opens Trial of Dual National Accused of Spying for Israel 

Iranians go shopping in Tajrish Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 08 December 2025. (EPA)
Iranians go shopping in Tajrish Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 08 December 2025. (EPA)
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Iran Opens Trial of Dual National Accused of Spying for Israel 

Iranians go shopping in Tajrish Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 08 December 2025. (EPA)
Iranians go shopping in Tajrish Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, 08 December 2025. (EPA)

The trial of a dual national holding European citizenship has begun in Iran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday, saying they were indicted for "intelligence cooperation and espionage in favor of the Zionist regime (Israel)."

According to the Alborz provincial attorney general, the defendant - whose identity has not been disclosed - entered Iran about a month before the 12-day war in June, during which Israel and the US struck Iranian nuclear facilities.

They were arrested on the fourth day of the conflict by the elite Revolutionary Guards.

"Sophisticated spy and intelligence items and equipment were discovered in their villa in Karaj," the attorney general said, adding that the charges under investigation carry penalties for "waging war against God" and "corruption on earth" - offences often punishable by death.

In recent years, the Revolutionary Guards have detained dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on espionage and security-related charges.

Rights groups and some Western countries have accused Tehran of using such arrests to gain leverage in negotiations. Tehran denies arresting people for political reasons.

World

China Vows to Defend Sovereignty Over Taiwan as Trump Unveils Security Strategy 

08 December 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, China's Foreign Office spokesperson, speaks to journalists. (dpa)
08 December 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, China's Foreign Office spokesperson, speaks to journalists. (dpa)
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China Vows to Defend Sovereignty Over Taiwan as Trump Unveils Security Strategy 

08 December 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, China's Foreign Office spokesperson, speaks to journalists. (dpa)
08 December 2025, China, Beijing: Guo Jiakun, China's Foreign Office spokesperson, speaks to journalists. (dpa)

China on Monday pledged to defend its sovereignty and warned against "external interference" after the US unveiled a new security strategy aimed at building up military power to deter conflict with Beijing over Taiwan.

Washington laid out its approach to one of the world's most sensitive diplomatic issues in its official National Security Strategy released on Friday.

The document came as Beijing last week deployed a large number of naval and coast guard vessels across East Asian waters in its largest show of maritime force to date.

Taiwan is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations and China brooks no external interference, Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, told reporters in Beijing when asked about the document.

"The US side should ... handle the Taiwan question with the utmost prudence, and stop indulging and supporting 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces in seeking independence by force or resisting reunification by force," he said.

Guo added that China was willing to work with Washington to promote stable ties while safeguarding its sovereignty, security and development interests.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has never renounced the use of force to take control of the island. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.

The new US document has been warmly welcomed in Taiwan, whose President Lai Ching-te wrote on X on Saturday: "Greatly appreciate that the US National Security Strategy prioritizes deterring a conflict over Taiwan."

Taiwan Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters on the same day that the United States still regards maintaining peace and stability in the region as its highest core interest.

"The United States is vigorously promoting that the countries in the Indo-Pacific region work together to establish an effective form of collective deterrence," he said.

"We in Taiwan must also strengthen our self-defense capabilities."

Lai has said Taiwan aims to spend 5% of its GDP on defense by 2030 and last month unveiled $40 billion in extra defense spending to run from 2026-2033.