According to KurdPress, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assessed the 36th NATO summit—held in Ankara—in a message posted on social media.

According to Erdoğan, the summit—held at the Turkish Presidential Complex—was attended by leaders from 32 NATO member states, nearly 100 ministers, senior diplomats, representatives of international organizations, and invited delegations.

Noting the summit's organization, he stated that security, transportation, coordination, and urban management measures were planned to ensure the safety of participants while minimizing disruption to citizens' daily lives.

Erdoğan also mentioned that the Presidential National Library served as the international media center, providing the press with facilities such as workspaces, editing rooms, and live broadcast areas. According to him, more than 2,500 journalists covered the summit. The Turkish president also expressed appreciation to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for his cooperation in the preparations for the meeting.

Pointing to global security developments—including great-power rivalry, hybrid threats, regional crises, and emerging technologies—Erdogan described the summit as an event held against this backdrop, noting that it highlighted Turkey's role within NATO's security and diplomatic architecture.

He also referred to the "NATO 3.0" vision, asserting that Turkey—with its military capabilities, geopolitical position, diplomatic capacity, and defense industry—is a key player in this process.

Erdogan added that the "Defense Industry Forum," held concurrently with the summit, addressed topics such as joint production, the strengthening of supply chains, cooperation in defense technologies, and the expansion of collaboration among member states.

He also reported on his bilateral meetings with a number of leaders and officials attending the summit—including US President Donald Trump, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and various European Union officials—noting that discussions covered issues such as bilateral relations, European security, the Russia-Ukraine war, Gaza, Syria, Libya, the Iran-US dynamic, and economic and defense cooperation.

Erdogan also announced the signing of a security and defense partnership agreement between Turkey and the UK, as well as the launch of free trade agreement negotiations between Turkey and Canada. He expressed hope that the discussions held with Donald Trump would yield results regarding the defense industry—specifically concerning the indigenous "KAAN" fighter jet and the F-35 fighter program.

According to the Turkish president, the summit's final declaration reaffirmed the members' commitment to the principle of collective defense and Article 5 of the Washington Treaty; the agenda also addressed issues such as removing barriers to defense trade among members, new defense procurement contracts, continued military and training support for Ukraine, defense industry capacity development, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, air and missile defense systems, and unmanned systems.

Erdogan also announced that Turkey intends to raise its defense spending to 3.5 percent of its GDP before 2030 and has allocated an additional $24 billion in funding for the "Steel Dome" project.

He concluded by stating that Turkey would continue its efforts to cooperate with its NATO allies and engage in matters concerning security and regional developments.