On July 8 local time, Turkish President Erdogan stated at the NATO summit that NATO allies must lift the restrictions on defense cooperation among them, and Europe should not exclude non-EU members from defense cooperation mechanisms.
"Between allies in defense, especially restrictions set in the defense industry sector must be lifted." Erdogan said that it is currently possible to establish a cooperative mode based on rationality and common sense. If non-EU member state allies are excluded from the EU's defense cooperation mechanisms, this would only create artificial divisions within Europe.
According to Reuters, on the day before Erdogan's statement, during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Trump said that the United States would lift sanctions against Turkey and made a final decision regarding the potential plan to restart the sale of F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey. However, British media believe that both decisions are expected to face resistance from the U.S. Congress.
Reports indicate that Turkey has the second-largest military force in NATO and is also an important producer and exporter of weapons. Although Turkey has repeatedly expressed its desire to join European security cooperation mechanisms, including the “European Security Action,” it has yet to be fully accepted by Europe due to political positions and policy differences.
Additionally, Trump revealed that he is considering lifting sanctions against Turkey. In an interview with CNN, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu also openly criticized this move, warning that it would be dangerous for the United States.
Netanyahu said that selling the United States’ most advanced fighter jets to Turkey does not mean that Turkey has become a friendly country of the U.S. Netanyahu revealed that he has repeatedly directly urged Trump not to do this, stating that the deployment of F-35 jets to Turkey would “ undermine the balance of power in the Middle East.”
Nevertheless, Erdogan said that Turkey is making steady progress towards the goal set by NATO—to achieve a defense expenditure of 5% of GDP by 2030. He revealed that Turkey has allocated an additional $24 billion for the “Steel Dome” air defense system project, in order to enhance NATO’s overall air defense and missile defense capabilities.
He also pointed out that NATO member states should assume more collective defense responsibilities, while maintaining the unity of the alliance, rather than taking actions that undermine the cohesion of the alliance.
