As part of the promotion of WeAreNATO Communication Campaign, the Turkish leg of which was launched with the coordination of the Directorate of Communications, the "68th Anniversary of Turkey's NATO Membership: Turkey, the Strong Member of the Strategic Alliance" panel was held in Adana.
During the event attended by many figures from the academic and diplomatic circles, Turkey’s initiatives which take place within the top five countries making the highest contribution to NATO operations and NATO’s contributions to Turkey were discussed.
Ahmet Berat Çonkar, the Deputy Head of the Turkish Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Grand National Assembly delivered a speech at the panel which was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Murat Yeşiltaş, Faculty Member at Department of International Relations of Ankara Social Sciences University.
In his speech, Çonkar wished God's mercy upon the martyrs who lost their lives during the operation in Syria.
Ahmet Berat Çonkar noted that Turkey’s 68-year-long position within NATO was very crucial and valuable.
Noting that Turkey made very important and unique contributions to NATO operations, Çonkar stated that Turkey acquired significant experiences and attainments from NATO in terms of its own national security.
Emphasizing that the most important and primary expectation of the society and the nation from politics was security, Çonkar added that when there was no security; economy, tranquility and stability could not be achieved, and in this respect, as the politicians representing the nation, their primary duty was to completely ensure the security of the country and the nation.
Çonkar recalled that Turkey, as the country that protected NATO’s south, southeastern flank during the Cold War, fulfilled its duties and assumed important responsibilities.
Indicating that Turkey has passed through a fire circle originating from the instability in its surrounding region since the 1990s Çonkar said:
“We are faced with a NATO Alliance, which cannot fully comprehend especially Turkey’s expectations on issues related to Turkey’s fight against terrorism in the recent period, and at this point falls short of providing the support that Turkey actually has the right and deserves within the framework of the alliance solidarity. Of course, NATO is not a trouble-free alliance. When we look at the position of Turkey, we see that Turkey’s expectations from NATO are very critical in terms of its national security and, both in the sense of European and Transatlantic security, we observe that Turkey’s position is very significant. The most important example of this was the incidents in Syria, the instability and the conflicts there, the emergence of the terrorist organizations required the formation of a common stance on the fight against terrorism. This was realized against DAESH. NATO also took the necessary steps within the framework of a coalition on time.”
"Turkey is the only NATO country to face and fight DAESH directly on the ground”
Pointing to the struggle of Turkey against DAESH, Çongar continued:
"In its struggle against DAESH in particular, Turkey is the only NATO country to face and fight DAESH directly on the ground. In this sense, we put up our fight at this point by paying the price with our own soldiers, martyrs but unfortunately, in respect to PKK that has been a headache for Turkey and its Syrian extension YPG in particular, we have not received the support we expect from western public opinions in the concurrent fight put forth by Turkey. Of course, these cause disappointment in the Turkish public opinion and raise the issue of questioning NATO’s alliance solidarity, integrity. Justifiably, Turkish public opinion expects NATO to stand strong by Turkey in cases, matters whenever and wherever Turkey is right. From this aspect, I don’t want to see this as the special condition of Turkey in NATO. The most important matter within the alliance is the principle of the indivisibility of security. What has been the characteristic of NATO that makes it strong is the capacity of all partners, allies to act with the same feeling, to give the same response when a state, a member of the alliance perceives a threat. It is of great importance for NATO to maintain this characteristic."
Reminding that Turkey has recently been conducting an operation in Idlib Region, which is particularly under the regime’s oppression in Syria, that is absolutely within the framework of international law in terms of prevention of the humanitarian crisis and establishment of safety, Çongar said, “Especially after the attack against soldiers and martyrs, Turkey called NATO for duty under article 4. At this point, we have certain concrete demands from NATO, which are on the table now. In this critical process, Turkey also attaches importance to the manifestation of alliance solidarity. We also pursue this. I am hoping that NATO will pass these tests and take timely steps by understanding Turkey’s concerns accurately.”
"During the panel, in which İstinye University Lecturer Aylin Ünver Noi (Assoc. Prof.) also made a speech, the promotional video of the “WeAreNATO” campaign, which aimed to raise awareness in member countries and inform the youth on NATO and the role and activities of NATO in global security, was displayed.