Erdoğan starts NATO summit diplomacy
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will meet on July 6 with NATO chief Mark Rutte as he holds talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev ahead of the opening of a two-day NATO summit in Ankara.
Although Rutte will formally open the summit later in the day, the meeting period marking the start of the July 7–8 gathering is scheduled to begin earlier with bilateral engagements between key participants.
Erdoğan is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with world leaders during the summit, including U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and European Council President António Costa.
A joint news conference is expected to follow the Turkish president’s meeting with Trump on July 7. Trump is set to attend a leaders’ dinner the same day and join formal summit sessions on July 8.
