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Türkiye's National Defense Minister Yasar Guler hosted NATO defense ministers Tuesday at the country's newly built Ay Yildiz Joint Headquarters in Ankara, marking the first official event held at the still-unfinished complex that Türkiye is positioning as the centerpiece of its modernized military command structure.
The reception, held inside the "Star" wing of the facility, came on the opening day of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit, a two-day gathering bringing together leaders from the alliance's 32 member states along with Asia-Pacific partners and invited guests, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Guler welcomed his counterparts at the entrance before delivering remarks to the assembled ministers.
The Ay Yildiz, meaning "Crescent and Star," complex consolidates the National Defense Ministry, the General Staff, and the commands of the Land, Naval and Air Forces under a single roof, an arrangement designed to strengthen joint operational capacity and streamline Türkiye's highest levels of military command.
Its foundation was laid on Aug. 30, 2021, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in attendance. Although most structural construction has been completed, the complex is still formally under construction.
Designed to evoke the crescent and star of the Turkish national flag, the campus incorporates a smart building system, environmentally conscious construction and advanced technological infrastructure intended to serve the Turkish Armed Forces' current and long-term operational needs.
The Ankara summit, the first NATO heads-of-state meeting hosted by Türkiye since the Istanbul summit of 2004, is expected to center on allied unity and questions about the evolving shape of the transatlantic security relationship.
A key theme is the emerging "NATO 3.0" framework, under which European allies are expected to take greater responsibility for conventional defense as the United States recalibrates its military footprint on the continent.
The gathering builds on commitments made at last year's summit in The Hague, where NATO allies pledged to invest five percent of gross domestic product in defense by 2035, a significant raise from the two-percent benchmark established in 2014.
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