The Erdoğan administration had a great NATO summit this week in Ankara. For me, that was always going to be the case, as Turkiye does a great conference, a reflection of Turks’ great hospitality, it’s in their DNA.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. But in addition, here Erdoğan seems to have a great personal relationship with President Trump, who was always going to be the loose cannon at this particular, and indeed any NATO summit. And Erdogan managed to secure (at least for the time being) the big Trump canon, which was perhaps the biggest achievement of all for the summit. In explaining this, a lot can be put down to the fact that Erdoğan has that personal chemistry with – or respect from – Trump. Partly, I think this is because Trump likes winners, and Erdoğan has an incredible history of winning elections and holding power in Turkiye. Trump seems envious of Erdoğan’s grip on power, something which he himself likely aspires to, and how Erdoğan manages the opposition, the media in Turkiye, and election results. Indeed, Erdoğan, like Trump, faces a two-term presidential limit looming in 2028, but no one believes that Erdoğan will be constrained by that. Trump likely – undoubtedly in my mind – himself craves a third term if it can be engineered. Trump also likes the fact that Erdoğan is transactional and can compartmentalize relations with friends and potential foes – a prime example here is having good relations with NATO allies, but also with President Putin in Russia. Trump has great relations with Putin, ironically, now less so with NATO allies.