Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 6
Turkey Seeks to Use Erdogan-Trump Ties to Bridge 32-Nation NATO Rift
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 6

Turkey Seeks to Use Erdogan-Trump Ties to Bridge 32-Nation NATO Rift

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 6

Summary

  • Ankara will try to use President Tayyip Erdogan’s personal rapport with Donald Trump to ease divisions at Tuesday’s NATO summit in the Turkish capital, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.
  • Fidan said Trump responds to trust and friendship, and Turkey wants to turn that relationship “for the benefit of the greater good” across the alliance.
  • The 32-member bloc meets under pressure after Trump threatened to scale back the U.S. role in NATO or quit altogether, pushing allies to weigh alternative security arrangements.
  • Those strains have deepened as Trump accused allies of disloyalty for not backing the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, even while keeping cordial ties with Erdogan.

Insights

How will Turkey's role as a mediator be affected by its own escalating regional rivalries?
Can the personal friendship between two leaders truly secure the future of the 32-member NATO alliance?
With arms deals and legal cases settled, is a new power dynamic emerging within the NATO alliance?