Newsletters
Turkish Grand National Assembly Speaker Numan Kurtulmus said that Europe has "lost the luxury" of self-sufficiency or inward retreat and that the EU must expand to protect itself, with Türkiye as the first country it will look to when enlargement is considered.
He made these statements upon returning from official visits to Finland and Sweden.
Responding to a question about Finnish President Alexander Stubb's call for the EU to expand to 40 member states, citing Türkiye, the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway and Iceland as potential candidates, Kurtulmus said the transatlantic rift opened by Trump's second term had fundamentally altered the European security calculus.
"Europe has lost the luxury of saying 'we are enough on our own.' Europe has also lost the luxury of turning inward. Despite all the racism, Islamophobia and xenophobia within Europe that are pushing European politics off course, the EU is obliged to protect itself by expanding," he said.
"When they think of enlargement, the first place they will look is Türkiye," Kurtulmus noted.
He added that Finnish President Stubb had openly accepted this and had begun conveying it to those around him.
On Trump's effect on NATO, Kurtulmus said he had deliberately used the phrase that "the divergences between Europe and America under Trump's second term in particular are also rendering NATO ineffective," and that no one in his meetings had disputed it. When asked whether Türkiye could become indispensable to these countries, he replied: "It is moving in that direction."
Kurtulmus said Europe was suffering from a notable absence of political leadership, with the era of significant European leaders having ended after Angela Merkel.
"The rise of the far right to this extent, xenophobia reaching a point where it influences mainstream politics to this degree, the increase in Islamophobia, all of this has caused serious damage to the values system that could be called the 'common unwritten constitution' of EU countries," he said.
He argued that the failure to build a common European defense force 20 years ago had prevented the emergence of a strong European identity and the political figures capable of leading it.
"I believe the European continent is helpless in finding solutions to problems," he said, while noting that European leaders were privately aware of the situation even if they did not speak as plainly.
Turning to the Middle East, Kurtulmus said Western interlocutors who had previously offered justifications for Israeli actions were doing so less and less.
"There is clear aggression and genocide underway. There is a very harsh apartheid regime being applied in the territory of Gaza. There is a de facto occupation in Lebanon. None of these have any connection to the war the US and Israel started against Iran," he said.
"Israel is increasingly becoming an indefensible country. I believe Netanyahu and his gang will become completely isolated," Kurtulmus added.
He said the countries backing Israel bore equal responsibility for the consequences.
"The countries that provide this support behind Israel, starting with the United States, are as irresponsible as Israel," he said.
Kurtulmus also offered a pointed analysis of Netanyahu’s strategic logic. He said the Israeli prime minister is trying to achieve personal political gains.
These include containing Iran and potentially bringing about regime change.
If that fails, he suggested Netanyahu may aim to extract concessions on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran’s nuclear capacity.
Kurtulmus also said Israel is pursuing what he described as the final steps toward a biblical territorial vision in the region.
Kurtulmus said the world was moving not toward multipolarity but toward what he called "multi-centricity," with mid-level powers rising to prominence. He placed Türkiye firmly in that category.
"Türkiye will become a sought-after ally by many countries," he said, adding that Türkiye's ability to host multiple international summits in a single year, on Russia-Ukraine, Iran, and other fronts, demonstrated a capacity that "an average European country could barely manage once a year."
He noted that the speakers of Finland's and Sweden's parliaments would attend the NATO Parliamentary Summit in Istanbul on June 28-29, and that over 20 parliamentary speakers had already confirmed attendance, with more expected to join.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
