Erdoğan, Macron hold closed-door talks on NATO sidelines
15:29, 08/07/2026, WednesdayU: Update: 15:30, 08/07/2026, Wednesday
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meets with French President Emmanuel Macron as part of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara, Turkiye, on July 8, 2026.President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met French President Emmanuel Macron in Ankara for closed-door talks on the margins of the NATO summit. The meeting covered bilateral relations and regional issues.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in the capital Ankara. The closed-door meeting at the presidential complex came on the margins of a two-day NATO summit hosted by Türkiye. The summit in Ankara brought together leaders of the 32-member alliance as well as key partners to discuss Europe’s defence capacity, the alliance’s defence spending targets, military modernisation, and continued support for Ukraine.
Summit context
The Ankara meeting marks the second NATO summit hosted by Türkiye, following the 2004 Istanbul summit. The gathering also provides a platform for bilateral meetings between Türkiye and allied countries on political, security, and economic cooperation. Türkiye – a member of NATO for nearly 75 years – joined the alliance in 1952. Erdoğan and Macron last met in April during the G7 summit in France.
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