The move comes after European nations unveiled sweeping defense budgets, spurred by escalating tensions with Russia and uncertainty around U.S. security commitment
The Defense Minister of Turkey – Yasar Guler, has said he will urge its European allies to ease defense spending restrictions that currently limit most investments to firms within the European Union (E.U.).
Speaking on the occasion, Guler said, “Allies need to spend not only more, but also smarter. There is a need for more cooperation than ever before.”
European nations have unveiled sweeping defense budgets, spurred by escalating tensions with Russia and uncertainty around long-term United States (U.S.) security commitments. The E.U. has approved a €150 billion ($170 billion) arms fund under its Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (SAFE), but stipulates that companies from the E.U., the European Economic Area or Ukraine must implement 65% of projects, the European Economic Area, or Ukraine.
Guler warned that such conditions risk excluding major North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies like Turkey from Europe’s defense framework. Turkey, he added, brings advanced capabilities in drone warfare, air defenses, naval systems, electronic warfare, and more — assets that could significantly bolster NATO’s collective strength.
Greece, a long-standing rival of Turkey, has demanded Ankara rescind a decades-old military threat over territorial waters before being allowed access to E.U. defense funds.
Greece and Turkey, NATO allies but historic foes, have been at odds for decades over a range of issues from airspace to the extent of their maritime boundaries and ethnically split Cyprus. In 1995, the Turkish parliament declared a “casus belli”, or cause for war, if Greece unilaterally expanded its territorial waters beyond six nautical miles in the Aegean Sea. Guler dismissed the condition as inappropriate, saying it amounts to dragging multilateral platforms into bilateral disputes.
Turkey’s defense ties with the U.S. have been strained by sanctions following Ankara’s 2019 acquisition of Russian S-400 missile systems. The move led to Turkey’s removal from the F-35 fighter jet programme, both as a customer and as a manufacturer. Guler also said Turkey hopes a potential meeting between the President of the U.S. – Donald Trump and the President of Turkey – Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will finally yield progress in lifting U.S. sanctions. Erdogan has expressed confidence that Trump, with whom he has good personal ties, will find a solution that relieves Turkey’s defense industry of the sanctions.
Guler also said Turkey, which has the second-biggest army in NATO after the U.S., has advanced capabilities in areas such as drones, which would be valuable to its allies as they plan major new defense spending.
