Analysis
Smart, independent reporting on Turkey's politics, economy and foreign affairs.
Turkey's political agenda is expected to pivot sharply from diplomacy to domestic maneuvering as post-NATO scenarios dominate the discussion from July 9 onward. The conclusion of the NATO Ankara Summit, widely seen as an international success for Turkey and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally, has triggered intense political speculation amid increasing pressure on dissidents.
According to some, NATO has to become more European in order to remain more Transatlantic. The “Europeanization” of NATO will certainly be the key focus of the Ankara summit in July.
Turkey wants NATO to address threats from all directions — including from Middle Eastern countries — during the Ankara Summit on July 7-8. 'We are reminded that what happens in the south does not stay in the south,' said Ambassador Mehmet Burçin Gönenli, director general for International Security Affairs at the Foreign Ministry, speaking at the 18th Istanbul Security Conference organized by Başkent University and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.