What direction will Turkey take after the NATO summit?
04-07-2026 16:05 Politics
1in.am Ahead of the NATO summit, on July 2, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan gave an extensive interview to CNN Turk. When asked whether a separate meeting between the presidents of the US and Turkey is planned during the summit, Fidan did not provide a clear answer, only stating that Erdogan would "conduct a series of bilateral negotiations." However, the Turkish diplomat reiterated a previously circulated thesis in the media that if the Turkish president "did not receive a separate invitation, Donald Trump would hardly participate in the NATO summit."
Fidan made a very harsh statement regarding Israel, saying that the country has "become a burden to the international community." Israel's Foreign Minister Saar, in turn, called on NATO member countries to "curb Turkey's genocidal ambitions."
Against this backdrop, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister announced that on July 3, Prime Minister Netanyahu had a phone conversation with the US President. The parties agreed on "an upcoming meeting." Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that the discussion is about a "proposed meeting" during the UN General Assembly in September.
The prevailing impression in the Turkish media is that the US president "should lift the arms sales ban on Turkey." The US imposed this ban on Turkey when it acquired the S-400 air defense system from Russia.
A "chill has begun" between Israel and the United States following the signing of the Iran-US "Understanding" memorandum. Jerusalem is convinced that Iran will "remain a threat as long as the theocratic regime is not collapsed." Several experts have argued that the Arab-Israeli "reconciliation is unrealistic," and that the US president's "Abraham Accords" are practically "less effective than he thought."
It would be naive to expect that the NATO summit will bring clarity to the "American choice issue" between Turkey and Israel. Nevertheless, if a separate meeting between Trump and Erdogan takes place, then from the information and expert assessments about its outcomes, it may be possible to infer what direction Turkey is choosing. This is of significant importance for the Armenian-Turkish normalization process.
* This text was automatically translated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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