Turkey is preparing to host the NATO summit in Ankara on July 7–8, 2026. Officially, this is being presented as a major diplomatic moment: NATO leaders will gather at the Beştepe Presidential Compound, Erdoğan’s palace complex in the capital. It will also be the first NATO summit hosted by Turkey since the Istanbul summit in 2004.
But behind the summit preparations, another project is drawing attention in Ankara: the transformation of Etimesgut Military Airfield into a VIP airport just minutes from Erdoğan’s palace.
The official explanation is simple. World leaders will need a secure and convenient arrival point for the NATO summit. Instead of landing at Ankara’s main Esenboğa Airport, delegations could arrive at Etimesgut and reach Beştepe in only a few minutes. From a security and protocol perspective, that may sound reasonable.
But the scale, cost and timing of the project suggest something much larger than a temporary two-day arrangement.
Etimesgut is not a new airport. It is one of Ankara’s long-standing military aviation facilities, with a history going back to the early Republican period. For decades, it functioned mainly as a military airfield. Now, however, it is being prepared for VIP and state protocol use, with reports saying ownership will remain with the Turkish Armed Forces while operations are transferred to the State Airports Authority, DHMİ. That detail matters: it points to a facility that may no longer be purely military.
The work includes extending the runway to 3,000 meters, widening it to accommodate larger aircraft, rebuilding aprons and taxiways, constructing a state guesthouse, creating VIP protocol areas, and opening new access roads. In other words, this is not just a basic repair project. It is a full conversion of a military airfield into a high-level state aviation hub.
The financial size of the project is also striking. Reports based on public tender information say three separate contracts were launched between 2025 and 2026, with a combined value of around 9.5 billion Turkish lira. One contract covers runway, apron and taxiway works together with the state guesthouse; another covers connection roads; and a third covers second-stage airfield works. The tenders were reportedly carried out through negotiated procedures, justified by urgent defense and security needs.
The timing raises further questions. The NATO summit ends on July 8, 2026, but the road connection contract is scheduled to continue until September 7, 2026 — almost two months after the summit. If the airport were being prepared only for the summit, why would major access-road work continue after the event is already over?
The project is already reshaping part of Ankara’s transport network. Ankara’s EGO public transport authority announced that 21 bus routes had to be revised because of Etimesgut Airport works. This means the project is not only a diplomatic-security arrangement; it is also changing daily urban life around the airfield.
Urban-planning critics have warned that the post-summit use of Etimesgut as a VIP airport and state guesthouse could create a new “security corridor” in the area. Some have also argued that, given the airport’s proximity to the presidential palace, the facility may effectively become a palace airport after the NATO summit.
There is another important context. Etimesgut is not the only VIP-related airport investment in Ankara. The 2026 investment program also reportedly includes a new VIP building at Esenboğa Airport, with a projected cost of 800 million Turkish lira. This suggests Ankara is investing heavily in state-protocol aviation infrastructure at the same time the Etimesgut project is moving forward.
The NATO summit provides a powerful official justification. It gives the government a clear argument: Ankara must be ready to host dozens of leaders, delegations, security teams and aircraft. But the project’s size, permanent facilities, post-summit completion dates and transfer of operations to DHMİ all point beyond one international meeting.
The presidential palace in Beştepe already represents the centralization of political power in Ankara. Now, beside that palace, a military airfield is being transformed into a VIP gateway for presidents, ministers, delegations and state aircraft.
Officially, it is for NATO.
In practice, Ankara appears to be getting a permanent VIP airport next to Erdoğan’s palace.
