Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has described the Ankara NATO summit as a “historic” meeting, saying the alliance reached consensus at a time of global uncertainty and strategic divisions.
Speaking to TRT Haber after the 36th NATO Summit of Heads of State and Government, Fidan said the gathering was historic both in the way it was held and in its results.
“This summit was truly historic in terms of both its organization and its outcomes,” Fidan said, adding that it was also an “extraordinary success” for Türkiye’s foreign policy under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Fidan said the summit came at a time when debates over NATO’s future, deterrence and transatlantic relations had created uncertainty about the alliance’s direction.
He said the Ankara summit showed that NATO still maintained its relevance and that differences between actors on both sides of the Atlantic could be reconciled.
“It was in fact a rediscovery of NATO’s original role, which was not offensive but based more on defense, preserving peace and increasing prosperity and stability,” he said.
Fidan said one of the summit’s most concrete outcomes was the transformation of burden-sharing from a concept into a practical policy.
He said Washington had long argued that Europe should assume a greater share of its own security costs, and that this view had now gained acceptance across the alliance.
“The transformation of burden-sharing from a concept into a policy that is now being implemented was important,” he said.
Fidan also said the defense industry had now become a central element of NATO planning, not merely a supporting factor.
He said the wars and crises of recent years had shown the importance of resilience, including ammunition stocks, logistics, supply chains and the ability to sustain defense mechanisms over time.
The Defense Industry Forum held during the summit and the political framework adopted in Ankara were therefore important, he said.
Fidan said the alliance was now moving toward what he called NATO 3.0, a new phase focused on adapting military and defense industry capabilities to evolving threats.
“At a time of such geostrategic and global shocks, confusion, differences of opinion and diverging strategic goals, the fact that member countries came together and reached consensus around certain concepts and targets is a historic success,” he said.
He said the defense industry contracts worth around $50 billion announced during the summit were not Türkiye-only agreements but deals among allies, adding that such contracts were important for the future of Türkiye’s defense industry.
Fidan said Türkiye’s defense industry focuses on high-strategic technologies and weapons, including air defense systems, missile systems, jet aircraft, next-generation unmanned aerial vehicles, swarm drones and cyber tools.
He said Türkiye’s example had shown NATO how certain needs seen in the Russia-Ukraine war could be turned into concrete capabilities.
“If Türkiye can do these alone, an alliance should certainly be able to do them,” Fidan said.
On U.S.-Türkiye ties, Fidan said President Donald Trump’s visit to Türkiye during the summit reflected the importance he attaches to Erdoğan and to the bilateral relationship.
He said the two leaders renewed their will to advance ties in all areas and address existing problems.
Fidan said discussions also covered defense industry cooperation, trade and regional issues including Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Iran and the war in Ukraine.
On CAATSA sanctions and the F-35 issue, Fidan said Türkiye had never wanted sanctions between allies.
“There have been declared and undeclared sanctions against us for a long time in European capitals and in America,” he said, adding that Türkiye had worked systematically to remove them.
He said some issues that could be resolved through administrative decisions in the United States were no longer a problem, but that CAATSA and the F-35 file remained linked to legislation.
“As long as this will exists in both leaders, we as ministries are taking the appropriate steps to resolve these issues,” Fidan said. “Hopefully, we will reach a result soon.”
