“I am going out of respect to President Erdoğan,” Trump recently announced his decision to participate July 7-8 NATO summit in Ankara. U.S. president found a friend in the Turkish leader in his second term in White House, but he has never been to the country during his tenure. Indeed, he will be the first sitting U.S. president to visit Ankara in 17 years, despite seemingly close ties between the two NATO allies. When Barack Obama visited Türkiye, Erdoğan was prime minister and Turkish-US relations were on another track under the Democrats. Yet, relations deteriorated to a degree under Joe Biden.
Trump’s visit which will begin on Tuesday is expected to turn a new page in bilateral relations and will be a follow-up to Erdoğan’s White House visit last year that showcased how far ties came since Biden left office.
The U.S. president will hold one-on-one talks with Erdoğan at the presidential complex in the capital and U.S.-Turkish delegations will hold talks separately on the margins of the summit.
Turkish media outlets reported that the agenda in the Erdoğan-Trump meeting will be diverse, but four topics will be the main items in discussions. These include lifting of CAATSA sanctions, Türkiye’s readmission to the F-35 program, U.S. sale of engines for Türkiye’s locally-made fighter jet KAAN and new defense projects. Additionally, Trump and Erdoğan are expected to discuss boosting bilateral trade volume and possible collaboration on energy.
