ANKARA — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Friday as he seeks to woo Turkish support to become the next NATO chief.
Erdogan is expected to communicate his country’s demands in return for its support for Rutte's prospective leadership of the transatlantic alliance as part of ongoing diplomacy between Ankara and The Hague.
But, unlike its megaphone diplomacy during NATO’s Nordic expansion the past two years, when Turkey tabled a host of demands from Sweden and Finland, Ankara is keeping its demands close to its chest, opting for quieter diplomacy in its current NATO negotiations.
Friday's meeting follows talks between Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Rutte last Friday in The Hague. The official readouts stopped short of mentioning the Dutch leader’s bid.
