Erdogan is hosting the 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara, showcasing Turkey’s strategic importance while continuing to buy large volumes of Russian gas.

Turkey is drifting toward autocracy, with Erdogan using arrests, judicial interference, and repressive laws to weaken the opposition and consolidate power.

Economic crisis and the end of his term in 2028 are pushing Erdogan to suppress dissent and potentially extend his rule.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is preparing to host the 2026 NATO summit in Ankara on July 7 – a highvisibility platform, if ever there was one. 

The occasion will emphasize how central Turkey has become in Western planning,  following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  ​Turkey faces Russia across the Black Sea.  ​In the light of NATO’s new ten-year Russia-focused strategy, adopted in 2022​, Turkey’s geography and capabilities ​have assumed key significance​.  ​

In elevating Erdogan to the chair of this NATO summit, however, Western leaders have had to turn a blind eye to a number of uncomfortable facts. For example their host​ – a key frontline member of NATO which is totally opposed to Russia’s war in Ukraine​ – is helping to fund that very war by purchasing Russian gas in enormous quantities.  Russia is Turkey’s largest gas supplier, providing more than half of Turkey’s pipeline imports. 

Nor is Erdogan in any way moderating his position.  ​Turkey had already renewed two gas supply contracts with Russia in December​, but in the last few weeks it has ​actually enhanced them.  ​The expansion agreement with Gazprom, Russia’s energy corporation​, was announced on May 31 at the Baku Energy Forum​ ​​by Turkey’s energy minister, Alparslan Bayraktar​. ​  

At a time when Moscow has lost most of its European customers​​ and is wag​ing war on Europe’s doorstep​,​ NATO’s leaders will once again........

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