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Türkiye supports NATO’s decision to raise its annual defense spending target to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035 and has already surpassed the alliance’s previous 2% benchmark, a Turkish defense ministry source said Thursday, according to a Reuters report.
The source, speaking on condition of anonymity at a press briefing in Ankara, said Türkiye “is already above the 2% criterion under the Defense Spending Pledge” and emphasized that, with NATO’s second-largest army, Türkiye ranks among the top five contributors to the alliance’s operations and missions.
Ankara plans to prioritize air and missile defense investments, the source added, including a nationwide expansion of its indigenous "Steel Dome" layered defense system.
“We are investing in air defense systems, hypersonic, ballistic and cruise missile capabilities, unmanned land, sea and air systems, as well as next-generation aircraft carriers, frigates, and tanks,” the source said.
NATO’s 32 member states pledged Wednesday to allocate 5% of GDP annually by 2035, including at least 3.5% for core defense spending and up to 1.5% for cybersecurity, infrastructure, and industrial capacity-building.
Speaking to reporters aboard his return flight from the NATO summit in the Netherlands, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye’s air defense system had reached “a certain level” but stressed the need for more robust missile capabilities.
“We are building a system of systems — our Steel Dome,” Erdogan said. “By integrating air defense systems at different altitudes, our sensors, and electronic warfare systems, we are bringing this system of systems to life.”
Addressing Türkiye’s exclusion from the F-35 fighter jet program, Erdogan said the matter was discussed during talks with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“We have not given up on the F-35s. We are discussing our intention to return to the project with our counterparts,” he said, adding that technical-level discussions have resumed.
“The F-35 program is as much a political process as it is a technical one,” Erdogan said. “Türkiye was unfairly removed from the program. We have consistently criticized this move, which is incompatible with the spirit of alliance.”
Türkiye had been a Level III partner in the multinational F-35 program until its removal in 2019 following its acquisition of Russian S-400 missile systems.
The new NATO spending target is part of a broader effort to bolster collective defense, deter threats, and improve alliance-wide readiness amid rising geopolitical tensions.
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