U.S. President Donald Trump will pay his first visit to Türkiye on July 7 and 8 on the margins of the NATO summit, where he will hold comprehensive talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on bilateral defense and security ties as well as ending the armed conflicts in the region.
Trump is expected to arrive in Ankara on July 7 and visit Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of modern Türkiye founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, as the first venue. Then he will head to the presidential compound to meet Erdoğan.
The two leaders are expected to hold a press conference after the meetings and later join other allies at the summit. Trump will leave Ankara on July 8.
This will be Trump’s first visit to Türkiye in his capacity as the president of the United States. The latest presidential visit to Türkiye from Washington was in 2015 when former President Barack Obama represented his country at the G20 summit in Antalya.
Obama was also the last U.S. president to make an official visit to Ankara, back in 2009.
Trump’s delegation will include Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth who will also attend relevant NATO meetings in Ankara on July 7 and 8.
Talks between Erdoğan and Trump will focus on improving bilateral ties, especially in the strategic issues, defense industry cooperation and security matters.
In a statement last week, Trump said he will make Türkiye happy with some good news he will deliver when in Ankara, probably referring to the sale of fighter jet engines for Türkiye’s indigenous warfighter Kaan.
U.S. State Department notified the U.S. Congress about the administration’s intention to sell F110 engines to Türkiye. Despite some minor opposition at the U.S. Congress, the experts in Washington believe the process will advance smoothly, and Trump would announce the move in Ankara.
Apart from the F110 engines, Türkiye is also pressing on the U.S. to return to the F-35 joint fighter program from which it was expelled because of deploying S-400 air defense systems from Russia in 2019.
The Turkish move at that time also triggered the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions on Türkiye.
In a statement last week, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Türkiye and the U.S. share a commitment to lift the sanctions and pave the way for the former to purchase fifth-generation stealth warfighters.
Erdoğan and Trump are expected to discuss all these matters and other areas of cooperation in the field of the defense industry.
Ending regional conflicts
The two presidents will also exchange views on the regional developments, particularly on the ways to end the war between Russia and Ukraine and achieve a lasting agreement between Tehran and Washington.
Türkiye reiterates its readiness to host Russian and Ukrainian leaders to negotiate an agreement to end the war and re-establish peace and stability in the region. It has also been urging both sides to avoid actions to spread the war to the Black Sea and protect maritime security.
Trump, before his visit to Ankara, spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone and repeated his expectations for a swift termination of the war. Trump will also see Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ankara.
Erdoğan and Trump will also discuss ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
Türkiye has been lending its support to the mediators, Qatar and Pakistan, from the very beginning of the peace efforts. In this light, Erdoğan met Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Istanbul over the weekend.
Another key issue on the agenda of the two leaders will be Gaza as Israeli attempts to delay the normalization process continue. Ankara has long been urging that Netanyahu government’s provocations must be condemned and prevented by the international community.
Erdoğan is expected to voice Ankara’s expectations of Trump to use his weight on Israel and implement the 20-article agreement.
