Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said that a weakened and outdated NATO would not contribute to world peace, Europe or the Middle East.
On his Medium account, a micro blog platform, Altun published an article titled “In the wake of a summit: Where is NATO heading?”
Altun noted that the NATO summit in London, where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was among the participants, brought many discussions and said that, “We see that lately especially some countries bring forward Turkey’s position in NATO when NATO’s place in world politics is discussed. However, Turkey has been present for 67 years in NATO which is celebrating its 70th year. Critical periods of the Cold War, regional conflicts, terrorism attacks aimed at NATO members, refugee crises... Turkey, in all critical periods, duly performed its duties as a member of NATO and acted in accordance with the alliance spirit.”
Fahrettin Altun pointed out that defence expenditure of Turkey within the framework of NATO goals increased by 53 percent in 5 years, and reached 1.89 percent of GNP, and stated the following:
“Turkey is also one of the allies with the biggest contribution to NATO’s common budget. 89.8 million Euros were transferred to NATO joint funds in 2018. Turkey being NATO's second biggest land power has undertaken several important missions in logistics operations by allowing NATO the use of bases on its territory. Finally, we saw an example of this in the struggle against DAESH. Turkey provided refuel support for NATO’s Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) planes; Konya Air Base was made available for the use these aircrafts.
However, despite doing all of these what did Turkey receive in return? The civil war in neighbouring Syria, with whom we share a 911 km long border, has created serious security issues for Turkey. Turkey expected NATO member states to display an attitude in line with the alliance spirit and give their full support against threats to Turkey’s national security. NATO members, however, have failed to take joint steps on a critical issue such as the fight against terrorism.”
“NATO member states did not provide sufficient support”
Altun reminded that while some NATO member countries questioned Turkey’s security concerns and its role in NATO, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, “Turkey is a strong member of our alliance. Turkey is at the forefront of a very volatile region. No other Ally is more exposed to the instability, violence and turmoil from the Middle East.”
Noting that Stoltenberg pointed to Turkey’s legitimate security concerns and also emphasized that Turkey “has strongly committed” to the struggle against DAESH and bringing down the terrorist organization, Altun continued as follows:
“With his statements Stoltenberg called on the member states to understand the security concerns of Turkey. However, NATO member countries, unfortunately, did not provide sufficient support to Turkey’s fight against terrorism. The PKK/YPG terrorist organization in northern Syria was publicly supported and FETÖ members were welcomed.
The attacks of the terrorist organization DAESH in Turkey was ignored, Turkey’s fight against DAESH was ignored and questioned. In fact, the leaders of some countries turned attacking Turkey and making unfair accusations against our country into politics. They resorted to screening their failures and declining popularity by casting aspersions on Turkey. Despite all the rhetoric and practices that are against the alliance spirit, Turkey has continued to express the importance of NATO at every opportunity.”
“We hope that the London Summit will be an opportunity for NATO’s transformation”
Altun said that, it became clear that the current NATO structure could not adapt to today's conditions and added:
“Just as Turkey worked for the existing UN structure to be fairer when it said 'The world is bigger than five’, Turkey believes that NATO should ensure a transformation suited to today's world. NATO must develop new strategies for a stronger alliance. The organization should fight against global terrorism without discrimination, and put forward new visions for asylum seekers and regional strategies. The articles of the NATO convention should be reviewed and revised if necessary.
As German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, Turkey’s membership is of strategic importance for NATO. We hope that in light of Turkey’s suggestions the London Summit will be an opportunity for ‘NATO’s transformation’. A weakened and outdated NATO would not contribute to world peace, Europe or the Middle East.”