Turkey in July 2026: the most important developments in politics
Turkey in July 2026 was dominated by the NATO summit in Ankara, held from July 7 to 9. Presidents Erdogan and Trump were at its centre. Trump was expected to restore Turkey's access to F-35 fighter jets, a step Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said he opposed. At the summit Trump praised Erdogan as a "great leader", clashed with other allies over Iran and defence spending, and declared the Iran ceasefire "over". Erdogan gave each NATO leader a pistol as a gift and called the summit a "historic success". Turkey committed to NATO's PURL Fund, and the alliance announced billion-euro defence deals. Afterwards Turkey was reported to be seeking Russian approval to exit the S-400 deal in order to unlock the F-35 purchase, and a Greek veto on Turkey's inclusion in the SAFE defence initiative was said to remain. On July 27 Trump bristled at Israeli opposition to the warplane deal.
Turkey also worked on Iran and Ukraine diplomacy. On July 4 Erdogan warned that Israel must not disrupt the US-Iran talks, and on July 10 Foreign Minister Fidan said the truce could still hold. On July 13 Erdogan was reported to be seeking to revive Ukraine peace talks. On July 16 Fidan met President Zelensky in Kyiv, called for the Istanbul talks to continue and said strikes on ships in the Black Sea were unacceptable. Kazakhstan's president urged Putin to freeze the war on an "Istanbul Formula 2.0"; the Kremlin called that impossible. Turkish warships visited the Syrian port of Latakia, and Syria's al-Sharaa praised Erdogan's role in lifting US sanctions. On July 1 Turkey blamed Cyprus for blocking an upgrade of the EU customs union, and on July 29 Erdogan vowed continued support for Turkish Cypriots.
At home, opposition politician Özel confirmed plans for a new party on July 15, announced it on July 21, and on July 24 it was reported to be the second-largest in parliament. Detentions of opposition mayors continued: the mayor of Istanbul's Üsküdar district on July 29 and Ankara's mayor Erdal Beşikçioğlu by July 30, among dozens of suspects. A comedian was jailed pending trial over jokes about Erdogan.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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