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President Donald Trump's decision to attend the NATO summit in Ankara marks a striking rehabilitation of a relationship Washington spent years punishing — and signals that Turkey's geographic and military assets now outweigh its long list of alliance grievances.
Trump told reporters on June 24 that he was attending specifically because of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, calling him "a friend" and "a respected leader," with White House spokesperson Anna Kelly confirming the two leaders would hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines.
From Pariah to Pivot: Turkey's Reversal of Fortune The warmth is a sharp reversal from just a few years ago.
After Turkey took delivery of Russia's S-400 air defense system in 2019, Washington expelled it from the multinational F-35 fighter program and, the following year, imposed sanctions on Turkey's defense procurement agency.
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