Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Guler believes that NATO is not in crisis, but is in a process of adaptation. He said this in an interview with Reuters ahead of the NATO Summit in Ankara on July 7-8, BTA reported.
“NATO continues to be an unprecedented and fundamental platform for Euro-Atlantic security and defense“, Guler said and added: “We assess the period we are going through not as a crisis, but as a process of adaptation to the changing security environment“.
According to the minister, Washington has no intention of withdrawing from NATO, but rather wants European allies and Canada to take greater responsibility for European security.
The agency recalls that US President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw his country from the alliance, and Washington has taken steps to withdraw troops, aircraft, ships and weapons from Europe due to tensions among the allies over burden-sharing, defense spending and objections from The US, referring to the lack of commitment by allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
According to Guler, the priorities of the summit will include issues related to increased defense spending by allies, taking steps towards a stronger transatlantic defense industry, reaffirming unity within the alliance and strengthening support for Ukraine.
“The summit is expected to intensify contacts and efforts to create a concrete roadmap for strengthening the European pillar“, Guler also noted in the interview, adding that “while Ankara supports a fairer burden-sharing scheme, its priority is to preserve the unity of the alliance.“
Guler said that Washington plays a central role in the security and deterrence of the bloc and that preserving the transatlantic relationship is of strategic importance. importance.
He recalled that Turkey has the second largest army in NATO and in recent years has significantly reduced its external dependence in the defense sector, developing one of the world's leading defense industries. The minister noted that despite these efforts, "due to political and strategic differences" his country is being kept at a distance from many European defense initiatives.
"We believe that excluding such an important potential (like Turkey) from European defense initiatives is a strategically wrong approach", he said, adding that Ankara expects Europe to adopt a more far-sighted approach and engage in cooperation with his country.
Güler recalled that last year the alliance allies agreed on the idea of raising defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035 and stated that Turkey is committed to this goal by gradually increasing its spending to achieve it by 2029.
The minister indicated that the priority areas for defense spending are drones, anti-drone systems, air defense and missile defense, naval projects, unmanned systems and cyber capabilities.
According to Guler, the integrated air defense system "Steel Dome" being developed by Turkey will be completed "as soon as possible". The minister also said that Ankara is evaluating "all options" regarding its defense needs, including the possibility of purchasing "Patriot" systems from Washington or the Franco-Italian "SAMP-T" systems.