A panel titled “Embracing Change, Safeguarding Tomorrow: Türkiye and NATO in a Transforming Security Environment” was organised in Brussels by the Directorate of Communications.
The seventh edition of the NATO panel series, organised by our Directorate, was held in Brussels ahead of the NATO Heads of State and Government Summit, which will take place in Ankara.
The panel titled ''Embracing Change, Safeguarding Tomorrow: Türkiye & NATO in a Transforming Security Landscape'' was organised by our Directorate in Brussels, the headquarters of the Alliance.
The NATO Heads of State and Government Summit will be held in Ankara on 7-8 July 2026, hosted by Türkiye. On the occasion of the summit, our Directorate is organising events across the capitals of various allied European countries. In this context, following events held in Madrid, Paris, London, Warsaw and Rome, a programme with high-level participation was organised in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.
As part of the programme, a meeting was first held with members of the press at the Permanent Mission of Türkiye to NATO. At the press conference, questions from journalists on the implications of the current global climate for NATO, as well as Türkiye’s expectations for the NATO Summit scheduled to take place in Ankara, were addressed.
The programme proceeded with a panel featuring the participation of notable figures. NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska delivered the opening remarks of the panel. Moderated by Assoc. Prof. Murat Aslan, a faculty member at Hasan Kalyoncu University and a senior researcher at SETA, the panel featured speakers such as Chairman of the National Defence Commission of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (GNAT) and former Minister of National Defence Hulusi Akar, Türkiye’s Permanent Representative to NATO Ambassador Basat Öztürk, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operations Burcu San, and Director for Strategy at the Belgian Defence Ministry, Belgian Air Force Major General Harold Van Pee. The panel drew 150 participants, including members of the military and diplomatic corps serving in Brussels, as well as experts in security and foreign policy, academics, and representatives of various think tanks.
During the panel, participants discussed how Türkiye and NATO might position themselves in light of ongoing transformation in the international arena, along with the contributions Türkiye could provide to NATO in this context. The participants further shared their perspectives with the audience on the anticipated outcomes of the NATO Summit scheduled for July 2026 in Ankara, how NATO’s future may evolve, and the role Türkiye could play in European security.
