Erdogan announces next NATO summit in Türkiye: What to expect
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Photo: Getty Images)
The 2026 NATO Leaders’ Summit will take place in the Turkish capital of Ankara, states President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
“Türkiye will host 2026 NATO leaders summit in the capital Ankara to prepare ground for important decisions to be takens,” Erdoğan said following a cabinet meeting on June 30.
The Turkish president also referenced his participation in this year’s NATO summit and emphasized Türkiye’s firm stance on defense cooperation and regional issues.
“We reflected our determination to remove barriers to trade in defense industry products in alliance documents,” the Turkish leader said.
NATO summit in the Hague
On June 24-25, The Hague, Netherlands, hosted the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, marking the first meeting under the leadership of new Secretary General Mark Rutte, the former Dutch Prime Minister.
The summit saw the attendance of key figures, including US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
One of the summit’s major decisions was for NATO member countries, Spain being the only exception, to increase their defense and security spending. The US had previously proposed raising defense budgets to 5% of GDP.
Following the summit, the European Union stressed the critical need to boost defense investments, citing the high level of the Russian threat to Europe’s security.
For an in-depth analysis of the NATO summit in The Hague and its significance for Ukraine, read the article by RBC-Ukraine.
