Ankara markets drones, air defense to states looking to reduce reliance on U.S. weapons

Ankara will use its turn hosting the NATO summit this week to market its drones and air-defense systems, turning a meeting about how much allies spend on defense into a showcase for Turkey's weapons industry.

NATO leaders will meet inside the Bestepe Presidential Complex, the palace of more than 1,000 rooms that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan built as the seat of his power. Nearby, at the ATO Congresium, a convention center in Sogutozu, the alliance's Defense Industry Forum will open its doors alongside a Turkish arms exhibition organized by the government's defense procurement agency. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has billed the forum as the largest industrial event in NATO's history, with allies set to announce tens of billions of dollars in defense deals.