President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaks during the plenary session at the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 8 announced Türkiye’s readiness to contribute more to the NATO and reach the 5 percent defense spending earlier than planned during the opening of the alliance’s key summit in Ankara.
“As the country with the largest land army in Europe, we are committed to making our capabilities available to the alliance whenever needed. We are among the leading allies contributing to the alliance’s operations, missions, and exercises in Kosovo, the Black Sea, the Baltics, and other regions,” he said in his address at the opening of the gathering in the Turkish capital.
Erdoğan hosted the summit along with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, during which leaders, defense and foreign ministers from 32 allied nations and senior officials from partnering countries attended.
In his opening remarks, Erdoğan explained Türkiye’s role in the NATO and vowed to increase its place by concrete contributions. As an ally which successfully uses drones and armed drones in real battlefields, Erdoğan said, Türkiye is planning to accredit its Center of Excellence for Countering Unmanned Systems to NATO.
“I believe this center will bolster our capability to counter threats posed, in particular, by aerial and maritime drones,” he stated.
On the summit’s key issue of burden-sharing, Erdoğan reaffirmed Ankara’s commitment to strengthening its contribution to NATO by increasing defense spending.
Türkiye to meet NATO criteria sooner than planned
“Türkiye has taken measures to raise the ratio of our defense spending to the 3.5 percent level before 2030,” he said, recalling that last year’s summit called on allies to do so before 2035. The president stressed Türkiye has already allocated 1.5 percent of its budget to security- and resilience-related expenditures.
He also announced that Türkiye has earmarked an additional $24 billion for its Steel Dome air and missile defense project, saying the investment is aimed at strengthening one of NATO’s most critical capability gaps.
In addition, Erdoğan highlighted Türkiye’s growing defense sector and said: “Undoubtedly, our country’s greatest success lies in the breakthrough we have achieved in the defense industry,” he said, adding that Türkiye has become one of the world’s top 10 countries in terms of defense production and export capacity.”
Two critical issues before reaching NATO 3.0 goal
The summit in Ankara also focused on ways for the alliance to update itself in the face of growing global challenges and increase its level of readiness to wars. Erdoğan underlined that there are two crucial issues that need to be addressed by the alliance in order to speedily reach the goal of NATO 3.0.
“First of all, restrictions between allies regarding defense cooperation, particularly in the defense industry, should be lifted,” Erdoğan stressed, expressing his satisfaction over the fact that this message has been well underscored by all the stakeholders during the Defense Industry Forum.
The second point Erdoğan made was on the role of the Europeans in the continental security.
Urging them not to duplicate NATO and avoid actions that could weaken NATO’s unity or transatlantic ties, Erdoğan stated, “As European allies take on greater responsibility for the defense of the continent, we must refrain from measures that could undermine the alliance’s cohesion and transatlantic relations.”
His speech also touched on the regional developments, mainly the Middle East and Eurasia.
On the efforts to open the Strait of Hormuz, Erdoğan said Türkiye stands ready to contribute to efforts to clear mines from strait. On the war in Ukraine, Erdoğan said Türkiye continues to maintain communication with both Kiev and Moscow to advance peace.
