The NATO Summit and the future of US-Turkish defense relations

  • Fri, July 17, 2026 • 10:00 am ET
  • Atlantic Council Headquarters
  • 1400 L Street NW • Floor 11
  • Washington, , DC 20005

The Turkey Program hosts discussions on the Ankara summit’s outcomes and the US-Turkey relationship.

Photo courtesy of NATO

On Friday, July 17, at 10:00 a.m. ET, the Atlantic Council’s Turkey Program hosts an event examining the recent NATO Summit’s outcomes and the future of the Alliance, as well as US-Turkish defense relations and their impact on regional security.

This month’s Ankara summit shed light on what the next era of the Alliance will look like: the strength of its unity, progress made on existing commitments, and new pledges to tackle emerging challenges including mineral and energy resilience, cybersecurity, and space. The summit also highlighted how after years of friction and divergent priorities, the United States and Turkey have entered a period of renewed engagement, driven by shifting dynamics in Syria and the Caucasus, as well as Turkey’s expanding defense industrial base and its deepening security and energy partnerships with European allies.

Experts and officials will take on these issues in a pair of panel discussions. The event comes as the Turkey Program launches a special NATO Summit seventh issue of its Defense Journal, which for three years has been a premier voice of expert analysis on Turkey’s role in transatlantic security.

New policy: In-person attendees will be required to show photo ID upon arrival, and no on-site registration will be permitted. Guests will not be admitted later than twenty minutes after the event’s start time.

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Speakers

Levent Gümrükçü
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Republic of Türkiye

Wesley K. Clark
Board Director,
Atlantic Council

Torrey Taussig
Director and Senior Fellow, Transatlantic Security Initiative,
Atlantic Council

Rich Outzen
Co-managing editor of the Atlantic Council Defense Journal; Nonresident Senior Fellow, Turkey Program,
Atlantic Council

Can Kasapoğlu
Co-managing editor of the Atlantic Council Defense Journal; Nonresident Senior Fellow,
Hudson Institute

Defne Arslan
Senior Director, Turkey Program,
Atlantic Council

More speakers to be announced.

Related reading

Report

Jul 1, 2026

Alliance evolving: The Ankara summit and NATO readiness

By Atlantic Council Turkey Program

As allies gather in Ankara for the 2026 NATO Summit, the seventh issue of the Defense Journal examines the issues at the forefront of the allied agenda.

Defense Policy Defense Technologies

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Within the Atlantic Council’s longstanding commitment to strengthening the transatlantic relationship, the Atlantic Council Turkey Program conducts research, provides thought leadership, and offers a platform for strategic dialogue between the US, Turkey, and NATO allies to address the region’s toughest challenges and explore opportunities, including in the fields of energy, business & trade, technology, defense, and security.

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