NATO chief highlights Türkiye's role in Istanbul peace talks

ISTANBUL

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised Türkiye's significant role in Istanbul peace talks aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict, saying Turkish President Erdogan is "an amazing leader within NATO and really respected by the colleagues."

“I think there is this window of opportunity this week, but also in the next 10 days, two weeks, to really bring the whole issue of Ukraine to a better place. Under the leadership, of course, of President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy, but also very much steered by the American government. And Türkiye plays a big role here,” Rutte told Anadolu, referring to Istanbul peace talks.

Highlighting that there are countries within NATO that are in Europe but are not members of the EU, such as Türkiye, the UK, and Norway, Rutte said:

“I encourage the EU to work as closely as possible with Türkiye, with Norway, with the UK, with us. To make sure that when there are initiatives, that they are spread if possible. Not only within the EU, but within Europe.”

He noted that it would be more beneficial for everyone if EU countries were open to initiatives on defense industry production with non-EU European countries.

He further underlined the importance of Türkiye's defense industry to NATO, saying: “The Turkish defense industry is crucial to the overall alliance.”

“For example, in Texas, there are factories producing ammunition. They could not have done that without the close cooperation of the companies here in Türkiye. This is just one of many examples.”

Highlighting Türkiye's advanced defense industry, Rutte said: “We need to develop this all over the alliance. Because we know the Russians are reconstituting themselves at a rapid pace. They now produce in three months an ammunition what the whole of the alliance is producing in a year. And the whole of the alliance, in terms of its economic power, is 25 times bigger than Russia.”

Rutte also mentioned encouraging member states to increase their defense spending, saying: “I am urging allies to spend much more on core defense, because we know the Russian threat is there ongoing, long term. We know that China is building up its military at an enormous pace and speed, which is having a potential impact on the defense of NATO territory in the future, it might have.

"We know that terrorism is there, so we need to spend more on core defense. But also on defense-related investments.”

He also said he is really confident that the NATO summit in The Hague that will take place next month “will be a splash.”

“A big success projecting NATO power, collective power at the world stage. Showing we stand ready to defend ourselves with the help of Türkiye and the president (Erdogan),” he added.

In response to a question about German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's constructive discussions on selling Eurofighter jets to Türkiye during a press conference, Rutte said: “I encourage not imposing restrictions on arms sales by one ally on another. This should not happen within the alliance.”

Rutte also said that he listened very carefully to Chancellor Merz and found the German approach more positive than in the past.

On NATO's vision for the future of European security architecture and its enlargement policy, Rutte said that Ukraine and other countries have the right to express their intention to join NATO, adding that once this intention is voiced, the 32 member countries would evaluate it.

NATO never promised membership to anyone including Ukraine

Rutte reiterated that during the NATO summit in Washington, it was stated that "Ukraine's path to NATO membership is irreversible," adding: “At the same time, we never promised Ukraine or anyone that as part of a peace deal, NATO membership would be on the table.”

He stressed the importance of separating Ukraine's desire for permanent peace from its NATO membership aspirations, noting that if other European countries express their wish to join NATO, this decision would depend on Türkiye and the other 31 member states.

Dissolution of the PKK terror group

Commenting on the dissolution of the PKK terror group, the official said: “We know that Türkiye generally is one of the allies within NATO hit hardest by terrorist attacks.”

Emphasizing that fighting terrorism is one of the core tasks of NATO, Rutte further said: “It's to keep us safe from the Russians. We have to acknowledge what's happening in China, the build-up of the Chinese military. But we also have the terrorist threat. And one of the reasons why NATO is there is to fight this terror threat.”

Underlining the importance of the dissolution of the PKK terrorist organization for both Türkiye and the alliance, he said: “My impression is that the Turkish authorities are really making use of this development to make sure that this part of the alliance is even safer. And the alliance stands ready to help wherever we can when it comes to terrorism.”