For Ankara, the NATO summit is not just another forum. Turkey wants to emphasize its strategic importance as a military power, a mediator in crises and an indispensable partner in one of NATO's most sensitive regions.
Preparations for the NATO summit are in full swing in the Turkish capital Ankara: security measures have been raised to the highest level, the movement of heavy trucks and construction equipment in Ankara, as well as demonstrations and rallies, have been banned.
Everything that does not fit the desired look of the city also had to disappear: stray dogs have been taken away, beggars have been chased away, and barriers have been erected along the routes of foreign participants to the forum, hiding the city's poor neighborhoods from view.
There is bad news for the academics, lawyers, politicians, environmental activists, teachers and pensioners who were arrested on the eve of the summit on terrorism charges: many of them have to to remain in custody. Ankara will remain in a de facto state of emergency until the end of the forum.
Strategic role in the Alliance
For the Turkish government, the NATO meeting on July 7-8 is of great importance. Ankara wants to use this platform to further emphasize its strategic role within the Alliance. In today's increasingly uncertain world, Turkey no longer wants to be just a guardian of NATO's southeastern flank, but a country that actively participates in shaping key security policies.
The Alliance leadership also highly values the importance of the host country. In an interview with Turkish state television, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised Turkey's strong and well-trained military and the country's rapidly developing defense industry.
Ankara wants a place at the center of NATO power
Since joining NATO in 1952, Turkey has been a key pillar of the alliance's defense. In recent years, the country has sought to establish itself as a mediator in international crises - for example, in the war in Ukraine and tensions over Iran. Ankara wants to present itself as an indispensable player whose importance goes far beyond its purely geographical location. Added to this is uncertainty about what role the United States will play in the future. Ankara sees this as an opportunity to strengthen its political influence within the alliance.
The tensions between the United States and its European allies, as well as the debate over greater European autonomy in the field of defense, are being closely watched in Ankara. If Europe is to develop its own identity in the field of security and defense, it should not compete with the Alliance, but should complement that of NATO.
At the same time, there are warnings that it is unacceptable to exclude important allies from the Alliance outside the European Union. For such a model to be viable, it must also include countries that are not members of the Community. This is particularly the case for Turkey, the United Kingdom and Norway.
Why is Turkey important to NATO?
Turkey was admitted to NATO at the height of the Cold War, and this partnership turned out to be of strategic benefit to both countries: the Alliance gained an important ally on the southern periphery of the Soviet Union, and Ankara received security guarantees from NATO.
To this day, Turkey occupies a specific geopolitical position: it is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and the Middle East and borders several crisis regions. That is why it is of great importance for NATO not only in military terms, but also in the fields of energy, economy and security policy, says the former Deputy Secretary General of the pact, Hussein Dirıyoz. That is why its importance remains unchanged high.
In addition, Turkey plays another strategic role: on the basis of the Montreux Convention, it controls the straits between the Aegean and Black Seas and thus has an important lever for the military balance in the region.
The defense industry - Turkey's new calling card
By the end of 2030, Ankara will increase its defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP). But even now its military capabilities are remarkable - Turkey has the second largest army in NATO after the United States. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Turkey's defense spending increased by 7.2% compared to the previous year and exceeded 30 billion US dollars. According to this indicator, the country ranks 18th in the world.
One of Ankara's main goals is to strengthen the capacity of its defense industry. Observers say that in the future, NATO will not rely only on the number of its troops, but also on production capacity, technological innovation and secure supply chains.
Against this backdrop, the defence industry forum, which has previously been organised as a side event, will for the first time be an official part of the NATO summit programme. Several agreements are expected to be concluded between the Alliance partners, whose leadership also recognises Turkey's growing importance - around 3,000 defence companies operate in the country.
The concept of security must be broadened
At the upcoming summit, Ankara aims to broaden NATO's concept of security. The Turkish government wants the challenges in southern and eastern Europe, the Black Sea region and the Middle East to be more fully integrated into the Alliance's strategic considerations.
That is why Turkey is advocating the revival of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI), which was established in 2004. The programme aims to strengthen security cooperation with countries in the Middle East. The initiative's members include Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. Ankara attaches great importance to the initiative and advocates for closer NATO cooperation with its southern neighbors.
For Ankara, the NATO summit is much more than just a major diplomatic event. The Turkish leadership sees it as an opportunity to emphasize its own strategic importance - as a military power, as a mediator in crises and as an indispensable partner in one of NATO's most sensitive areas.