Against the backdrop of a complex geopolitical situation, the NATO meeting will be held on July 7 and 8 in Ankara. Precisely for this reason, it will be an important stage in the Alliance's effort to respond to the challenges of the new security environment. The opinion was expressed during a meeting between Prof. Murat Yesiltas, member of the Foreign Policy and Security Council of the Turkish Presidency, and Prof. Erman Aklay, chief expert at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (CETA), with Bulgarian journalists, held at the Turkish Embassy in Sofia.
Looking at NATO's history after the Cold War, the Ankara Summit, which will bring together leaders of 32 countries, over 100 ministers and a number of high-ranking diplomats, can safely be defined as historic.
„I think the Alliance's Ankara Summit will be a critical turning point regarding the future of NATO. There are several reasons for this. First of all, NATO is trying to adapt to the emerging security“, said Prof. Yesiltas.
The topic of Ukraine will, of course, be in the focus of the talks. But no less attention will be paid to what is happening in the Middle East and, more specifically, the war in Iran.
The questions after the agreement between the US and Iran remain. "And we do not know how the Gulf region will be reconstructed and how the war in Lebanon will be stopped by regional actors. But we see the good intentions with the ceasefire," said Prof. Yesiltas.
Beyond the Middle East, the critical issue for NATO is unity and defense spending and other technical issues for NATO security in the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean.
Another interesting question is whether the Ankara Summit will define or redefine China as a strategic challenge.
Prof. Aklay addressed the topic of Turkey's role in NATO. According to him, in the Alliance, our southern neighbor is a "security consumer and at the same time a contributor to common security". He did not fail to highlight the potential of the Turkish defense industry, the country's preventive capabilities regarding security in the Black Sea and its experience in combating terrorism.
Before the meeting with journalists, Professors Yesiltas and Aklay participated in a round table discussion “Rethinking Regional Security in NATO-Turkey Resilience Cooperation“.
At the beginning of the meeting with journalists, the host H.E. Mehmet Uyanık, Ambassador of Turkey to Bulgaria, outlined the latest developments between Bulgaria and Turkey in the fields of politics, economics and culture.
Turkey has an extremely busy political agenda this year. The Diplomatic Forum in Antalya, which was held in April, brought together 6,400 participants from 150 countries. It was attended by presidents of 23 countries. Now, on July 7 and 8, the NATO summit is coming up, which will once again bring together leaders at the highest level from around the world. Two more important international meetings are due by the end of the year. One is COP 31 - the 31st United Nations Conference on Climate Change), which will be held in Antalya, Turkey from November 9 to 20, 2026, and the other - the 13th Summit of the Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States. The host in the fall will be Ankara.