Intelligence chief calls for equal partnerships within NATO

ANKARA

Turkish intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın has said NATO needs strong partnerships and relations based on equality as the alliance faces a more uncertain and fragmented security environment.

Kalın, head of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), spoke at the “Allies in Ankara” program held at Ankara Palas on the sidelines of the 36th NATO Summit, according to security sources.

The event was organized by Türkiye’s Communications Directorate, the Munich Security Conference and the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, or SETA.

Kalın said security could no longer be defined only in military terms, adding that NATO had to adapt to this new reality.

“This also places a responsibility on all of us to contribute to the strategic security environment,” he said.

He said uncertainty, strategic competition, polarization and fragmentation were taking place at the same time, while threats had become more hybrid and multidimensional.

Kalın said strong partnerships and equal relations within the alliance were critical, adding that inconsistency and inequality among member states had been among NATO’s internal criticisms in recent decades.

He said NATO’s collective security concept was based on the principle that no member is safe unless all are safe.

“That is why the text of the alliance says that if one member state is under threat or faces an attack, all members are expected to respond. But this has not always been implemented,” he said.

Kalın also stressed the importance of strategic resilience, preventive diplomacy and capacity sharing among allies.

“No member country can possess all the capabilities in the world, so sharing is important,” he said.

“Complementarity is an important element of the alliance.”

He said defense industry cooperation and intra-alliance security programs should be based on shared responsibility.

Kalın said uncertainty did not necessarily mean chaos and could push countries to plan on several levels.

“If plan A does not work, you have to change plan B. I think this makes all of us more resilient,” he said.

On Türkiye’s role in NATO, Kalın said the alliance had one center, in Brussels, and that Ankara did not accept a center-periphery approach among allies.

He said Türkiye had a strong position in NATO in terms of troop numbers, military capacity and defense industry contribution.

Kalın also rejected what he described as a politically insufficient tendency to define Türkiye only as NATO’s “southern flank.”

“We do not accept the establishment of hierarchies among allies in NATO. We base cooperation on equal relations,” he said.

The Ankara summit, hosted by Türkiye on July 7-8, brings together leaders from NATO’s 32 member states, partners and invited guests.

The summit is expected to focus on allied unity, defense capabilities, support for Ukraine and expanding defense industry production.