Erdoğan ties Iran de-escalation to neutralising Israeli provocations, presses NATO Ankara summit and EU bid on return from Turkic States summit
On the Friday return flight from his Astana and Turkistan visit, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told reporters that "Israel's provocations must be neutralised, and then genuine peace must be built," framing the US-Israeli campaign against Iran as the main driver of the regional crisis and warning that Tel Aviv seeks to expand the war across the Middle East. He set out expectations for major alliance and security-architecture decisions at the forthcoming NATO summit in Ankara, reaffirmed Türkiye's EU membership goal against what he called the bloc's "ambivalent" and "openly discriminatory" practices, and said F-35 talks with Washington are continuing. Erdoğan also flagged the new Declaration on Eternal Friendship and Expanded Strategic Partnership with Kazakhstan, the Turkistan Declaration signed at the informal Organization of Turkic States summit, and Türkiye's defence trajectory, including the indigenous KAAN fifth-generation fighter and the SAHA 2026 fair in Istanbul that drew more than 150,000 visitors and $8 billion in business volume.
Speaking to reporters aboard his return flight from Kazakhstan on Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the path to lasting peace in the Middle East ran through ending Israel's actions, telling reporters: "First, Israel's provocations must be neutralised, and then genuine peace must be built." His remarks, reported by Anadolu and Daily Sabah, referred directly to US-Israeli attacks against Iran and named Tel Aviv's "endless provocations" as among the main drivers of the regional crisis, warning that Israel "seeks to expand the war across the Middle East for its own ambitions."
"If lasting stability is desired in the region, everyone must put aside short-term calculations. Countries should defend the rights of their own citizens, not the interests of actors outside the region," Erdoğan added, saying Türkiye would continue maximum efforts to prevent the current turmoil from evolving into a wider crisis and that regional problems should be solved by regional countries themselves.
The president devoted a long portion of the briefing to bilateral and Turkic-world tracks. Türkiye and Kazakhstan signed a Declaration on Eternal Friendship and Expanded Strategic Partnership during his visit, alongside 12 agreements, after the sixth meeting of the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Erdoğan said roughly 5,500 Turkish companies have invested around $6 billion in Kazakhstan and that Turkish contractors have undertaken projects worth nearly $30 billion, with both governments aiming to raise bilateral trade from $10 billion to $15 billion. He highlighted energy cooperation, including the transport of Kazakh oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.
At the informal Organization of Turkic States summit in Turkistan, leaders signed the Turkistan Declaration aimed at making existing cooperation more effective through digitalisation and artificial intelligence and strengthening institutional integration. Erdoğan stressed the importance of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus participating in OTS activities, called the TRNC "an inseparable part of the Turkic world," and said Türkiye would take the organisation "to higher levels" during the chairmanship it will assume at the 13th summit it hosts next fall.
Looking ahead to the NATO summit in Ankara, Erdoğan said the alliance was expected to take "important decisions regarding the future of the alliance and the future shape of the global security architecture," and that today's "more complex" threats and increasingly fragile global system demanded "fair burden-sharing, sincere cooperation and a common understanding of security." On the European Union, he said Türkiye remained committed to its membership goal despite what he described as "ambivalent" and "openly discriminatory" practices from the bloc. "We did not put forward our full membership vision to the European Union to compete with or obstruct anyone," he said, adding that Europe had reached "a crossroads" and faced a "historic decision" on how to use Türkiye's contribution.
On defence ties with Washington, Erdoğan said F-35 talks were continuing. "Our demands regarding the F-35 are clear. Our officials are continuing talks with their American counterparts. We hope for a positive outcome." He framed the indigenous fifth-generation fighter KAAN as the first step of a broader transformation of Türkiye's defence industry — "KAAN is our first step. We can and will build even better and stronger ones" — and cited the SAHA 2026 defence fair in Istanbul, which drew more than 150,000 visitors, introduced over 200 new products and generated $8 billion in business volume.
The remarks consolidate a Turkic-world push that has run through the week: Erdoğan's earlier comments at the OTS summit on May 14 on the bloc's role in Eurasian peace, his May 15 call for Turkic-world solidarity and cybersecurity cooperation, and his May 13 arrival in Kazakhstan for the summit and bilateral talks.