According to German government circles, the 36th NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government, to be held in Ankara, will be an opportunity for the first interim assessment since last year's NATO summit in The Hague.

An official from government sources, providing information about the summit, stated that European allies have increased their defense spending by more than 100 billion euros in the last 12 months, pointing out that Germany alone increased its defense spending by approximately 25 billion euros, bringing it to 124 billion euros.

The official noted that Germany has thus doubled its defense spending compared to 2022.

Sharing the information that Germany plans to increase its defense spending to 5 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2029, the official conveyed that this means the country will achieve this earlier than the date agreed upon at the summit in The Hague.

The official recalled that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has met with leaders of the E5 countries and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in recent weeks regarding the NATO Summit in Ankara, and has also held discussions with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump, stating that Chancellor Merz "hopes for an Ankara spirit to emerge" at the summit and "is working towards it."

The official underlined that the summit should send a signal that Europeans are taking on more responsibility for their own security, both financially and through cooperation in the defense industry.

"We Europeans are taking on greater responsibilities," the official said, adding that European defense ministers are working on a joint declaration regarding defense cooperation.

The official noted that the issue of Ukraine will play an important role at the summit, where support for Ukraine will be discussed, and politically, the aim in Ankara is to further increase transatlantic alignment on Ukraine.

The official also drew attention to the fact that the issue of Iran will be discussed in Ankara, recalling that the German Chancellor and allies welcomed the agreement reached between the US and Iran.