Escalation: Erdogan urges Macron on air-defense missiles

On July 6 in Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he will press French President Emmanuel Macron to drop his opposition to Turkey buying a European air-defense missile system, according to Bloomberg.

AP says U.S. President Donald Trump is heading to Ankara for the NATO summit this week, and Reuters adds he will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a Syrian leader on the sidelines while in Turkey.

The New Region reports the two-day summit opens Tuesday with the Defense Industry Forum, now formally part of the program after previously being a sideline event.

AP notes that last year Trump won big spending promises from NATO allies and will try to enforce them in Turkey this week. The Globalist characterizes this gathering as NATO’s 36th summit and says Turkey’s role within the alliance has evolved. On Feb. 3, 2026, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies published an analysis highlighting questions over Turkey’s leadership succession under Erdogan.

On the air-defense issue, Bloomberg says Macron remains opposed to a Turkish purchase, while The Jerusalem Post cites sources saying France has softened its stance; the paper adds that France’s foreign and defense ministries declined to comment and referred questions to the presidency.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources