President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on June 29 that Türkiye is among the countries that best understands the changing global security landscape, arguing that Ankara’s geographic position, military capabilities and NATO experience place it at the forefront of efforts to address mounting threats.
At the NATO parliamentary summit at Istanbul’s Dolmabahçe Palace ahead of the alliance’s July summit in Ankara, Erdoğan told lawmakers from allied countries that the gathering represented “an important sign of preparation and solidarity” before NATO leaders meet next month.
He said the Euro-Atlantic security architecture was passing through “a historic threshold,” citing war, terrorism, irregular migration and regional crises along NATO’s eastern and southeastern borders.
“Threats such as war, crises, terrorism and irregular migration, particularly on our alliance’s eastern and southeastern borders, require us to reshape our understanding of security,” Erdoğan said. “We are in the middle of a period of uncertainty where tension is replacing stability, disorder is replacing order, predictability is diminishing and no one knows what they will face the next morning.”
Erdoğan argued that traditional frameworks no longer adequately explain global politics and said recent conflicts had undermined confidence in international institutions.
“The current definitions describing the global system and politics have largely lost their meaning in today’s world,” he said. “The massacres we have witnessed recently, especially in Gaza and Lebanon, have inflicted deep wounds on humanity’s conscience while also destroying the credibility of international institutions.”
Against that backdrop, Erdoğan said NATO’s deterrence and allied unity had become more important than ever, emphasizing that Türkiye is well equipped to adapt to the new security environment.
“As Türkiye, we are one of the countries that best reads the spirit of this new era,” Erdoğan said. “With more than 1,800 kilometers of land borders with crisis regions, a strong army, modern military capabilities and an advanced defense industry, Türkiye has been among the leading allies contributing to NATO’s security for more than 70 years.”
He said Türkiye actively participates in NATO missions, supports international peace and stability, and shares its experience in managing regional crises with allies.
“Ankara will provide the strongest platform for sharing this experience,” Erdoğan said, adding that the upcoming NATO summit has attracted significant international interest.
Addressing alliance priorities, Erdoğan said lawmakers carry the responsibility of protecting the right to life and said the summit should produce outcomes that respect allies’ national security concerns while strengthening NATO solidarity.
Referring to Türkiye’s decades-long fight against terrorism, Erdoğan urged allies to improve burden-sharing and remove barriers to defense industry cooperation.
“As the leader of a country that has fought terrorism successfully for many years and is now working to eliminate it completely, I must say that our expectations from the alliance in this area are high,” he said. “We are doing our part on burden-sharing, and we will continue to do so.”
Erdoğan also called for Türkiye’s inclusion in European Union defense and security initiatives, arguing that Ankara’s contributions to European security should not be overlooked.
“There is no benefit to anyone in excluding Türkiye’s defense capabilities because of narrow political interests,” he said. “We must establish a security and defense network across the alliance stretching from Texas to Ankara, without reservations or conditions.”
