Yusuf Soykan Bal and Serdar Dincel
18 February 2025•Update: 18 February 2025
ANKARA/ISTANBUL
Since becoming a NATO member in 1952, Türkiye has played a key role as one of the most powerful and uniquely positioned members of the defense alliance with its military, as well as making significant contributions to its missions in a wide geography.
Türkiye joined NATO on Feb. 18, 1952 after then-President Celal Bayar signed the accession documents.
It became a member in the third year of the alliance, along with Greece. The organization has 12 founding members: the US, UK, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and Portugal.
With Türkiye's membership, NATO gained a reliable ally on the southern flank with its air, land and sea capabilities and strong armed forces.
The country is among the top five contributors to NATO with its support to operations and missions.
Türkiye's contributions
Seventy-three years on, Türkiye has made significant contributions to NATO as the first ally to directly confront the threats and risks in the region with its strategic position in the critical geography where it is located. The organization is one of the fundamental elements in Türkiye's security and defense.
Within the scope of the fight against terrorism, which NATO has identified as one of the main threats, Türkiye is resolutely fighting against all forms and manifestations of terrorism, especially ISIS (Daesh), al-Qaeda, PKK/YPG and FETO terror groups.
As one of the countries contributing the most to NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR), the Turkish forces assumed the role of KFOR commander for a year, 2023-2024, and currently serves as the deputy commander.
Türkiye also contributes to the security of Kosovo and the region as one of the countries that has undertaken the KFOR Reserve Battalion, which is rotated by the allies.
Besides, Türkiye is one of the countries providing the most personnel support to the NATO Mission in Iraq, which was launched in 2018 to advise and train the Iraqi security forces.
Ankara's active role in NATO exercises
Türkiye also contributes significantly to the alliance's air and naval operations, commanding both Standing NATO Maritime Group Two and Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group Two.
Within the framework of enhancing NATO's deterrence and defense capability and the ability to work together with allies, Turkish personnel also actively participate in NATO exercises.
The country contributes financially and in terms of personnel to the support provided to partner countries, especially for defense capacity building.
In this context, Türkiye's estimated defense expenditure for 2024 was 2.09% of its GDP, making it one of the 23 NATO countries to achieve this target.
In terms of contributions to NATO common funds, Ankara's contribution to the military budget is 4.59%, 8th among the countries with the highest contribution, and 7th in terms of personnel contribution to all staff included in the NATO command structure.
Türkiye hosts important NATO headquarters, institutions
Among NATO's critical headquarters, the NATO Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) is located in Türkiye's western province of Izmir, and NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Türkiye is in Istanbul.
The country also hosts the NATO Centre of Excellence – Defense Against Terrorism as well as the Partnership for Peace Training Center in Ankara, and the NATO Maritime Security Center of Excellence in Istanbul, all of which provide training support to members and partner countries.
