The President of the United States, Donald Trump, arrived in Ankara on Tuesday to attend the NATO leaders’ summit in the Turkish capital. Upon his arrival at the airport on Air Force One, he was met by the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan; following his meeting with the Turkish leader, Trump announced that the United States would lift all sanctions against Turkey, including the possibility of the country’s return to the F-35 programme. During his visit to Ankara, Trump is also scheduled to hold meetings with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and the President of Syria, Ahmed Al-Sharaa.
The Air Force One, the US presidential aircraft carrying Trump, landed in Ankara accompanied by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, and the Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth. Erdoğan welcomed the delegation at the airport, where the two leaders held a brief conversation before the official welcome ceremony.
Before their bilateral meeting at the Beştepe Presidential Palace in Ankara, both leaders answered questions from journalists. Regarding Turkey’s return to the F-35 programme, the Turkish president stated: “We have been promised five aircraft. Mr Trump always keeps his word.” Erdoğan also emphasised the significance of the visit: “I would like to particularly highlight how important this visit is. The fact that the NATO leaders’ summit is being held in Ankara today and that all the leaders are gathered in our country right now will give us greater strength,” he said, as quoted by Turkish media.
“We are very close friends. President Erdoğan is doing a great job,” Trump commented, according to the Turkish press. “We’ve had great chemistry from the very beginning. We have a very special relationship. Türkiye is a very strong country. People don’t really know how strong Turkey is. They have very good soldiers. Everything is going very well thanks to this relationship. I have great respect for the President and I believe these relations benefit both countries. We will discuss many things. We will most likely also discuss Iran,” he added.
Trump: “I wouldn’t have come to NATO if it hadn’t been in Turkey”
“I wouldn’t have come to NATO if it hadn’t been in Turkey,” the US president stated emphatically, not missing the opportunity to take another swipe at other allied countries: “We didn’t need their help, but I put them to the test (during the war with Iran). Italy, Germany and France turned us down. So I thought: why are we spending hundreds of millions of dollars helping them?”.
In addition to his criticism of NATO, the lifting of sanctions against Ankara was another of the key announcements made by Trump to journalists upon his arrival in the Turkish capital and after meeting with Erdoğan: “I have no concerns whatsoever about our relationship with Türkiye. Our relationship with Turkey is probably at its best… We will lift the sanctions. The time has come. I don’t want to stifle my friend Turkey with sanctions,” he declared.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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