ANKARA, Tuesday, July 7, 2026 (WNP): Türkiye’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan on Tuesday said the stage was set in Ankara for a historic NATO Summit that would shape the future of the Alliance and redefine the Euro-Atlantic security architecture for years to come.
In a statement ahead of the NATO Summit being hosted in the Turkish capital under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Fidan said Türkiye was fully prepared to welcome Allied leaders at a pivotal moment for transatlantic security.
“The stage is set in Ankara,” Fidan said. “Under President Erdoğan’s leadership, Türkiye stands ready to welcome NATO members at a moment that will define the Alliance’s future.”
He stressed that the decisions to be taken during the summit would extend far beyond addressing immediate security concerns.
“The decisions taken in Ankara will not merely address immediate challenges—they will shape the Euro-Atlantic security environment for the years ahead,” he said.
Highlighting the evolving global security landscape, the Turkish Foreign Minister said collective defence remained NATO’s core mission, but warned that the nature of modern threats had fundamentally changed.
According to Fidan, today’s security challenges span multiple domains, evolve more rapidly and have become increasingly complex, requiring NATO to adapt its capabilities and strategic outlook accordingly.
“Collective defence remains the core of NATO, yet the strategic environment is shifting. Threats are multi-domain, faster, and more complex. Traditional metrics no longer capture this reality,” he observed.
He emphasized that the Alliance should increasingly measure its strength through operational effectiveness rather than conventional indicators.
“What matters now is output: deployable capability, industrial capacity, and operational readiness,” he said.
Fidan also underlined the importance of strengthening Europe’s contribution to NATO while cautioning that restrictions on defence-industrial cooperation among Allies were hampering efficiency and limiting the Alliance’s ability to respond rapidly to emerging threats.
“A stronger European contribution is essential—but restrictions on defence-industrial cooperation undermine efficiency and slow response. These constraints have become strategic liabilities,” he noted.
The Turkish Foreign Minister called for European defence initiatives to remain fully inclusive of all NATO member states, arguing that greater cooperation across the Alliance would reinforce collective security.
He further stressed that the challenge facing NATO was not only how it responds to crises but also how it structures cooperation in line with the realities of an increasingly complex strategic environment.
“The real issue is not only how we respond, but how we organize cooperation in a way that reflects today’s realities. The Ankara Summit will guide the Alliance in aligning its structures with the world it faces,” Fidan said.
Reaffirming Türkiye’s commitment to NATO, he said Ankara’s objective was to help build a stronger, more capable and more resilient Alliance capable of addressing both current and future security challenges.
“Türkiye’s objective is clear: a more coherent, more capable, and more resilient Alliance,” he said.
The two-day NATO Summit, hosted by Türkiye in Ankara, brings together leaders of all 32 Allied nations to discuss collective defence, deterrence, defence investment, industrial cooperation, emerging security threats and the Alliance’s long-term strategic priorities amid an evolving global security environment.
