Donald Trump has made it clear that he’s attending this year’s Nato summit in Ankara for one reason only: ‘respect for President Erdogan.’ Trump told Nato’s Secretary General Mark Rutte last month that if it hadn’t been for the veteran Turkish President’s invitation, ‘I don’t think I would have gone to it.’

Nato’s summit will, therefore, be dominated by the alliance’s two most militarily powerful and at the same time most problematic members. Trump seems set on pursuing his long-held goal of making Europe pay for its own defence, while Erdogan is determined to leverage his strategic relationship with the US, Russia and Ukraine to scrap restrictions on Turkish purchases of US military hardware. Top of Erdogan’s agenda is being allowed to buy F-35 fighter jets, plus overturning sanctions on Turkish arms companies mandated in the US’s Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA. Those sanctions, intended to punish countries for dealing with Russia’s defence industry, were originally passed in 2017 by… Donald Trump.

Turkey has now truly become NATO’s – and America’s – indispensable ally

Turkey has now truly become NATO’s – and America’s – indispensable........

© The Spectator