Turkey says NATO is adapting, not collapsing, ahead of summit
Turkey says NATO is adapting, not collapsing, as 32 allies prepare to meet in Ankara with U.S. troop posture, spending and Ukraine support under review.
Turkey’s defence minister, Yasar Guler, said NATO was adapting to a shifting security environment rather than moving toward collapse, as Ankara prepared to host alliance leaders on July 7 and 8. His message came as Washington trims some military assets in Europe and President Donald Trump keeps up pressure on allies over burden-sharing.
The summit in Ankara will bring together leaders from all 32 NATO members, along with officials from the Gulf and the Asia-Pacific region. Turkey wants the meeting to project alliance unity and reinforce deterrence at a moment when members are still trying to read Washington’s long-term intentions.
Guler said the United States was not seeking to leave NATO, even as some allies worry about a deeper American pullback. He said Washington wanted European allies and Canada to take on more responsibility for European security. That debate has sharpened as allies argue over Europe’s defence spending and over the role of partners in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
The Turkish minister also cast NATO’s nuclear-sharing arrangements and the U.S. role in extended deterrence as strategically essential. His comments reflected a broader effort inside the alliance to separate temporary adjustments in posture from a structural break with the United States, even as nervous members weigh how far the rebalancing will go.
Turkey’s priorities for the summit include higher defence spending, a stronger transatlantic defence industry, a renewed affirmation of NATO unity and deeper support for Ukraine. Guler said NATO remained an unparalleled and fundamental platform for Euro-Atlantic security, a formulation that underlined both reassurance and pressure: the alliance may endure, but its internal politics and military commitments are being renegotiated in real time.
Turkey has also been positioning itself as a mediator and stability broker inside NATO. It fields the alliance’s second-largest army and has been building its own defence industry, giving Ankara added leverage as leaders gather to test whether “adjustment” is a diplomatic reset or a slimmer U.S. role by another name.
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