Ankara marks 70 years of NATO membership, expects allies’ unity

TURKEY on Friday marked the 70th anniversary of its membership in NATO, saying that it expects allies to flawlessly display unity and the spirit of solidarity that constitute the bedrock of NATO.

In a statement, the country’s Foreign Ministry said: “During the Cold War era and after, Turkey has been one of the responsible and leading members of the Alliance.

“In addition to the role it has played in defending NATO’s borders, Turkey has made extensive contributions to its missions and operations, and in line with the fundamental values of the Alliance and through its principled and visionary approaches, it has been among the leading Allies that chart the course for NATO.”

“In this period where NATO of the 2030s is being discussed on the one hand, and comprehensive security challenges are faced on the other, our country is doing its share in terms of defense and security while making meaningful and genuine contributions to the process of change and transformation in NATO,” it added.

Turkey will be resolute in pursuing efforts, particularly in the fight against all forms and manifestations of terrorism that threaten not only the country but the entire Euro-Atlantic region, so as to protect the security and stability within a 360-degree approach, the statement further said.

“In this respect, we expect our Allies to flawlessly display unity and the spirit of solidarity that constitute the bedrock of NATO,” the statement concluded.

In another statement, Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Friday that Turkey stands at the center of NATO’s security.

“NATO is a successful defense alliance. We are also a full member here. Therefore, we have rights and responsibilities here. We have made every effort to use our rights to the fullest and to fulfill our responsibilities to the fullest.”

Noting the importance of NATO working together, in harmony and in consultation, Akar said: “We have provided NATO with truly effective, strong and uninterrupted support for 70 years. We are still continuing this. We have made important contributions, and NATO executives are aware of this. We shared and continue to share NATO’s values and responsibilities.

“The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is the second-largest army in NATO. We are at the heart of NATO’s security. We have carried out the duties and missions we have undertaken with great success. Turkey is among the top five contributors to NATO and ranks eighth in terms of financial contribution. This is something important. There is a serious sacrifice, a serious potential that we have put forward.”

‘CENTER OF GEOPOLITICAL FUTURE’

Turkey expects more support from NATO and its allies for activities aimed at stabilizing the region and the world as a country at the core of the alliance’s geopolitical future, Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun also said Thursday.

Speaking at the opening of the panel discussion on “Changing Dynamics and Longstanding Alliance: Stronger with Turkiye for 70 Years,” in Ankara, Altun highlighted Turkey’s contributions to NATO missions and operations as well as relations with the pact.

NATO stands as the largest and most institutionally advanced alliance in the history of the world and it has made significant contributions to peace and stability across the globe ever since its establishment, according to Altun.

“NATO today is not just an alliance, it has gone beyond alliance and transformed into an international institution where many countries cooperate in the name of security,” he said, adding that alliances were expected to dissolve following the disintegration of an enemy figure but that has not been the case with NATO.

Although some claimed NATO expired and was referred to as “brain dead” by a leader of a NATO-member country, the organization still maintains its position in global politics, said Altun, also noting that the alliance was a strong international organization stretching from continental America to the borders of Asia with 30 members.

He said that Turkey had always viewed NATO as a strategic and valuable alliance bringing peace and stability to not only the member states but the globe.

“Like all countries, Turkey also has relations with non-NATO countries. These ties should not be regarded as an alternative to NATO,” he said.

“Turkey is one of NATO’s most active, most reliable allies and it did not join NATO solely as a result of its geographical features,” he said, stressing that Ankara made contributions to the pact even prior to becoming a member.

The official went on to say that Turkey was among the top five alliance members making the most contributions to missions and operations, as seen in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq, and Turkey undertook the responsibility for NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in 2021.

Emphasizing that Turkey has always viewed the alliance as an important instrument of its agenda for security and foreign policy, he said his country was standing at the very center of the geopolitical future of NATO.

While Turkey fulfills its responsibilities toward the international organization, it also has expectations from NATO and member countries to contribute to stability and peace across its region and the world, said Altun.

He called on NATO to support efforts for stability on European borders more intensively as developments in Syria in the past decade demonstrated the fact that instability could spread to the whole world and issues such as terror and migration emanating from the Syrian crisis were still awaiting solutions.

Altun said his country simultaneously fought multiple terrorist groups in Syria, such as the Daesh and the PKK, but failed to get the expected support from NATO allies.

Turkey’s counterterrorism efforts for sake of self-defense also serve anti-terror expectations of NATO and global terrorism, threat, according to Altun, who was critical of some NATO allies who he said were “hand-to-hand” with terrorist groups, let alone supporting Turkey in its battle against terrorism, and it was “unacceptable” for Ankara that some allies were trying to use one terrorist group to fight another.

Both Turkey and Greece became members of NATO in 1952, as part of the first enlargement movement of the organization. However, joining the organization came at a cost. Turkey only became eligible to become a member of the organization after it fought besides NATO members in the Korean War in which it lost 721 soldiers. Its previous attempts to join it had been unsuccessful.

Currently, NATO has 30 members and is meant to be a collective defense organization; to defend the indivisible security, freedom and common values of its members. Membership in the organization was seen by Turkey as something that could make a positive contribution to the country’s economic, military and political development. Since then Turkey has been a vital ally, providing NATO a connection to the east and control of Turkey’s straits.

The country has been providing permanent naval assistance to NATO missions in the Aegean Sea while leading regional initiatives, including the Standing NATO Maritime Group’s (SNMG) activities in the Black Sea region.

Turkey also hosts many NATO initiatives. There is a NATO headquarters in the western İzmir province, an airbase in the southern Adana province, another one in Diyarbakır and a NATO Rapid Deployable Corps in Istanbul. It also hosts the AN/ TPY-2 radar in eastern Malatya province as part of the organization’s missile shield project. Apart from all these, in 2018 alone, Turkey contributed $101 million to the common funding of NATO.

Despite Turkey’s commitment to the organization, it has not always received the support it expects.