Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Istanbul late Friday for talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, focusing on migration, regional conflicts, and defense cooperation.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has underscored the necessity for Türkiye to broaden dialogue within society during the period of escalating tensions in the region, saying that unity is key to resolving regional issues.

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that he will discuss migration and defense cooperation during his visit to Türkiye this weekend.

Scholz is expected to pay a visit to Türkiye on Oct. 19, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan set to receive the German leader in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Thursday hosted Hungarian parliament Speaker Laszlo Kover for a meeting at the presidential complex in the capital Ankara, according to Türkiye's Communications Directorate.

No further details were provided about the closed-door discussions.

Commemorating 100 years of ties

Istanbul is set to host the third meeting of a regional bloc focused on fostering peace and trade in the South Caucasus on Oct. 18.

The gathering will be chaired by Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and attended by his counterparts from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran and Russia.

Turkey has been conducting technical works aimed at accelerating its planned purchase of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, a Defense Ministry official said on Thursday.

As Greece and Turkey prepare for a pivotal round of talks on November 7, Ankara is pressing for broader discussions, including issues of sovereignty, territorial waters, airspace, the demilitarization of islands, and the control of certain geographical formations.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Nechirvan Barzani, the head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), in the Turkish capital Ankara on Oct. 16.

Ahead of the meeting, Barzani held talks with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief İbrahim Kalın.

Fidan later joined Erdoğan's reception of the KRG president.

The Turkish government has postponed until 2025 a parliamentary debate on a proposed tax on credit cards, which would be introduced to boost defense funding.

The bill stipulated that people with a credit card limit of at least 100,000 Turkish Liras (nearly $3,000) would have to pay an annual 750 liras in tax from January to bolster the defense industry.