Britain’s NATO military representative, Lieutenant General Eldon Millar, described the UK and Türkiye as “the bookends of the alliance,” highlighting Ankara’s strategic importance and longstanding contributions to NATO.
Speaking to Anadolu in an exclusive interview during a visit to Türkiye, ahead of the NATO Summit scheduled to be held in Ankara on July 7-8, Millar said Türkiye serves as “a vital bridge between so many different parts of the world” because of its strategic location.
Discussing Britain’s expectations for Europe to shoulder a greater share of NATO’s defense burden, Millar said the alliance’s starting point remains the “imminent and pressing threat” posed by Russia.
“As we continue to recognize that there’s a really imminent and pressing threat from Russia, so I think that frames really where we start,” he said.
Millar emphasized that European allies are increasingly taking responsibility for their own security and noted positive developments across several areas, including defense investments, military capabilities, and command structures within NATO.
“We’ve seen some really interesting developments in weapons, in terms of different capabilities that people have got. We’ve seen some really interesting and new ways in which we’re commanding and leading the NATO forces, which is another really interesting piece,” he said.
He added that European allies have been “stepping up with greater spending and making the investments that are so important” to defense, stressing that NATO “has always been and will always be a transatlantic alliance.”
“And I think the key piece, as we look forward to the NATO summit here, is demonstrating the role that Europe is taking in its own security to make our entire alliance stronger,” Millar said.
Türkiye ‘vital bridge’ and ‘important member’
Highlighting Türkiye’s role within NATO, Millar described the country as “such an important NATO partner” that has been “pivotal in the alliance, almost one of the founding members.” Türkiye has been a NATO member for more than 70 years.
“If you look at what Türkiye brings to the alliance, it’s a vital bridge between so many different parts of the world in terms of its strategic location. But more than that, it brings real capabilities to the alliance,” he said.
“We have some vitally important alliance bases here in Türkiye, many of which you will know. And it continues to play a really important part in almost every single operation, mission and activity that the alliance does. So, in many ways, Türkiye is such an important member of the alliance,” he added.
Millar said he works closely with his Turkish counterpart in Brussels on a variety of issues facing the alliance.
“We often say to each other that in one sense, the UK and Türkiye are the bookends of the alliance. North and South, East and West, our countries are geographically positioned in that space,” he said.
‘Strong relationship’ between Türkiye and UK
Millar noted that the bilateral relationship is reinforced by close cooperation and a series of formal agreements between the two countries.
Referring to the technical and logistical support agreement signed under the Türkiye-UK Eurofighter Typhoon project, Millar said regular joint training exercises continue.
“We train together routinely, and I think there’ll be a very exciting and interesting program of training, which will be coming together soon. And then on operations, certainly in my service, there has barely been an operation that I have been on where I have not been shoulder to shoulder with Turkish colleagues on those operations,” he said.
Millar also recalled visiting Kosovo last week, where he met personnel serving in NATO’s Kosovo Force, or KFOR.
“We’re very proud that we have a number of UK personnel serving under a Turkish general in that operation,” he said. “So the relationship between Türkiye and the UK has always been strong (and) it remains a very strong relationship. I think what we have been able to do through NATO is to give some real substance to that relationship.”
During his visit to Ankara, Millar also visited Anitkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Türkiye.
“It was a real privilege for me to be able to go and pay my respects,” he said.
“And the thing that struck me, I think, was the number of people who had visited to honour that, but also how much at its core was a relationship with the world, and in particular with the UK. So I think, at its heart, there’s always been a strong relationship. And I hope I can do my small part to make that relationship ever, ever stronger,” he added.
*Writing by Gizem Nisa Demir
