Erdoğan says Türkiye at center of NATO transformation
ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Türkiye stands at the center of NATO’s transformation, citing the country’s military capabilities, strategic position, diplomacy and defense industry capacity.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Erdoğan reviewed the results of the NATO leaders’ summit hosted by Türkiye on July 7-8 in Ankara.
“We successfully held the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit hosted by Türkiye,” Erdoğan said.
He said leaders of all 32 allied countries attended the summit at the Presidential Complex, along with ministers, delegates, representatives of international organizations and invited guests.
Erdoğan said NATO’s Asia-Pacific partners South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia, as well as the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative partners Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, also attended at the level of heads of state or ministers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa visited Ankara on July 8 for bilateral talks, he added.
Erdoğan thanked Ankara residents for their patience during the summit, saying the capital had hosted a major international meeting successfully.
“Ankara has increased its international visibility more than ever by hosting a historic summit with historic success,” he said.
He said Türkiye had used the summit to present its positions on regional and global issues, including Gaza, Lebanon and the Russia-Ukraine war.
Erdoğan said Türkiye had underlined the need to remove obstacles and restrictions on defense industry cooperation among allies.
He also noted that a Defense Industry Forum was held for the first time as one of the summit’s main events, with nearly 1,000 participants and members of the press attending.
A center of excellence on countering unmanned systems will be established in Konya, Erdoğan said.
“Türkiye, with its military capability, strategic location, diplomatic experience and defense industry capacity, is at the very center of this transformation as one of NATO’s strongest actors,” he said.
Erdoğan also commented on U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Türkiye, describing it as significant because it was the first official visit by a U.S. president to Türkiye at the head-of-state level in 17 years.
He said Ankara would continue to work with Washington to strengthen bilateral relations, reach the $100 billion trade target and support peace and stability in the region.
The president also announced new steps to support industry and manufacturing.
He said the government had reduced the corporate tax rate for the manufacturing sector to 12.5 percent and raised the daily volume of rediscount credits offered to exporters to 5 billion liras.
Erdoğan said a 100 billion lira credit package had already been introduced for manufacturing sectors.
He announced that the budget of the Investment Committed Advance Loan Program would be increased to 750 billion liras.
The government will also offer a 250 billion lira credit package for the manufacturing industry under favorable conditions, he said.
The loans will have a grace period of six months and maturities of up to 36 months, with the government covering 12 points of the financing cost.
“With these two programs, we are opening the way for a total of 1 trillion liras in favorable financing for the manufacturing industry,” Erdoğan said.