Turkish President Erdogan wants his state to join the SCO, which also includes China and Russia.
A traffic light politician calls for "economic coercive measures".
Berlin - "NATO and the European Union have to ask themselves how long they will let Erdogan dance around on their noses," said Jürgen Trittin, the foreign policy spokesman for the Greens in the Bundestag, to the newspaper
Welt
.
The current trigger for his anger: Erdogan's government announced on Saturday that Turkey wants to join the SCO.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, SCO for short, sees itself as a counterweight to Western alliances - and has states like Belarus and Iran, which are accused of violating human rights, as members or candidates for membership.
The two largest allies are China and Russia.
"Turkey is preventing NATO from monitoring the UN arms embargo on Libya.
It is drilling in Greece's economic zone.
NATO member Turkey is doing more to circumvent European sanctions on Russia than China.
Erdogan puts the brakes on Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
And now he wants to join the SCO together with Iran,” said the Green politician.
Erdogan: Trittin wants people to think about "coercive economic measures against Turkey".
NATO and the EU should not naively close their eyes to these facts - "it is time for a more robust Turkey policy," demanded Trittin.
And he goes one step further: "Since no one can be excluded from NATO, economic coercive measures against Turkey must be considered."
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A meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) where Turkey becomes a dialogue partner, September 2022
© Uncredited/Turkish Presidency/AP/dpa
Erdogan's move towards China and Russia - different assessments from the SPD and FDP
Harsh words were also spoken around the world
by the SPD's foreign policy spokesman
.
"In terms of foreign policy, this would be another symbolic step away from the West and its values - a serious political mistake for Turkey's future," said Nils Schmid.
An FDP politician does not want to overestimate Erdogan's step.
Alexander Graf-Lambsdorff, deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, told Die
Welt
: "With its rapprochement, Turkey wants to signal to the USA and the EU that it is a NATO member, but is also trying to increase its influence elsewhere.
Precisely because the SCO has an extremely low level of integration, this step should not be overrated."
(kat)