Welcome back to AL-MONITOR Turkey after a week packed with Trump, NATO and the continuing drama over the Russian S-400s.

The upshot? Turkey, after infuriating the alliance with its foot-dragging over Sweden and Finland's NATO membership, has been restored to favor as a prized NATO ally amid growing doubts about America's long-term commitment to European defense.

The picture is less clear when it comes to the S-400s, but things appear to be moving in the right direction — for now. As President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters after the summit: "Keep watching this space."

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Erdogan's NATO triumph

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds a press conference following the annual NATO Summit at Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8, 2026. (Altan Gocher / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump lavished praise on the Turkish leader while making clear that, in his view, he remained the dominant partner in the relationship. Trump reminded everyone that Erdogan had eventually complied with his demand to release the American pastor jailed on dubious terrorism charges during Trump's first term. This time, Trump suggested, Erdogan had also stayed out of the Iran conflict despite supposedly being tempted to give Israel "a thrashing."

That last claim has left many observers scratching their heads. Conventional wisdom holds that Turkey has no interest in joining a war on Iran's side — nor does it want a direct military confrontation with Israel.

The biggest news on Friday came from a pro-government columnist, who claimed that Turkey had found a way to offload its S-400 missile batteries to a Gulf state — either Qatar or the United Arab Emirates. The report gained credibility after Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that discussions were underway regarding the "highly sensitive" issue of the Russian-made system, as Ezgi Akin reported here.

Should such a deal materialize, Ankara would satisfy a key congressional condition for lifting US sanctions. That, in turn, could clear the way for Turkey to receive the first six F-35 fighter jets it had already paid for and that were completed........

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