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NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska on Wednesday called Türkiye an invaluable ally for nearly 75 years.
She said the July summit in Ankara represented a significant moment for both Türkiye and the alliance, speaking at a panel organized by Türkiye's Presidency of Communications in Brussels.
"We always emphasize that Türkiye has been an invaluable ally for approximately 75 years and contributes to our common security in many ways," Shekerinska said, noting Türkiye's contributions across naval, land and air domains and its position as NATO's second-largest military.
She stated that Türkiye had invested more than 2% of GDP in defense even when few others did, and was committed to increasing that figure further to meet the 5% target all NATO allies agreed to at The Hague last year.
Shekerinska said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had been "very impressed" by Türkiye's defense industry base during his visit to Ankara.
"Türkiye is doing an outstanding job and I very much look forward to seeing everyone there," she noted.
Shekerinska set a high bar for the Ankara summit's deliverables.
"We expect allies there to show that they accept this challenge and are taking steps to overcome it. Not general intentions, but real contracts, clear commitments, agreements signed both before and during the summit," she said.
"This will be a message we send to our people: NATO is ready and capable of protecting them," the NATO official stated.
She described the threat environment as requiring urgent action, citing Russia's continued war in Ukraine, China's ongoing military modernization and nuclear expansion, and Iran's sustained nuclear and ballistic missile threat.
"We face real and persistent dangers from the Arctic to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, from space to the seabed, and we need a stronger Europe within a stronger NATO, also supported by American power," Shekerinska added.
NATO Deputy Secretary General identified Ankara summit priorities as including capabilities, particularly air defense, long-range systems, armored systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, and counter-drone systems. She noted that the increased defense production was "not about warmongering" but about demonstrating deterrence and defense capability to prevent aggression.
On Ukraine, Shekerinska said: "Ukraine's security is actually our security and that will also be the message we give in Ankara. Despite the many security issues we face, we must never lose our focus."
Turkish Parliament's Defense Commission Chair and ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) lawmaker Hulusi Akar stated that security had evolved far beyond its traditional military dimension to encompass artificial intelligence, cyber threats, irregular migration, and energy security.
"Today, security is no longer confined by geographic borders. Instability spreads rapidly. Modern conflicts affect the entire world very quickly," Akar noted.
Akar emphasized Türkiye's strategic role within the alliance by stating, "The country has a vital geostrategic position, a solid defense capacity, and deep experience in crisis management. Türkiye not only protects NATO's southern flank but also acts as a strategic balancing element between the Black Sea, the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Eastern Mediterranean," he said.
He added that Türkiye's defense industry had achieved a self-sufficiency rate of over 82% and that approximately 56% of its 2025 defense exports went to NATO allies and European countries.
Akar called for closer burden-sharing among allies and said restrictions on defence purchases between NATO members contradicted the founding spirit of the Washington Treaty. "We should be in closer cooperation and share the burden," Akar said.
Türkiye's Permanent Representative to NATO, Ambassador Basat Ozturk, stated the transatlantic alliance constituted a "unique alliance" bringing together allies from different geographies into a "great family," and that an alliance could only succeed if it acted decisively and in harmony.
Ozturk noted that a missile interception had been successfully carried out within nine minutes, citing this as evidence of what strong collective defense could achieve.
He said the alliance provided an important security foundation not only for its 32 member states but also for partners in Ukraine, the Asia-Pacific, and the Gulf. "We are working very seriously for the summit. All allies will share the same spirit in Ankara," Ozturk noted.
He added that Türkiye was an ally that met its NATO defense planning obligations ahead of target dates.
Burcu San, Acting Deputy Secretary General for Operations, said the goal was to build a stronger Europe within a stronger NATO, not to have the EU take over NATO's role in Europe.
"What needs to be done is to build a stronger Europe within a stronger NATO," San said.
She warned that efforts to duplicate NATO's command structure could undermine collective security by saying, "Initiatives that will copy NATO's command structure will likely weaken all of our security."
Belgian Maj. Gen. Harold Van Pee noted that Europe still relied heavily on U.S. and NATO structures for command and control and said the EU needed to focus on the command-and-control infrastructure required to manage existing military capacity.
The event was attended by Türkiye's Ambassador to Belgium, Baris Tantekin, and Permanent Representative to the EU, Ambassador Yaprak Balkan, along with numerous foreign and Turkish guests.
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