Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the NATO Summit in Ankara represents a pivotal moment for the alliance, emphasizing that decisions taken during the gathering will influence the future of Euro-Atlantic security for years to come.

In a statement shared on X on Tuesday, Fidan said Türkiye is prepared to host NATO leaders at a time of significant strategic change, highlighting Ankara's role in facilitating discussions on the alliance's future direction.

"The stage is set in Ankara," Fidan said, noting that under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Türkiye stands ready to welcome NATO members for a summit that comes amid growing global security challenges.

According to the foreign minister, the outcomes of the summit will extend beyond addressing immediate crises and will help shape the broader Euro-Atlantic security environment in the years ahead.

Fidan reaffirmed that collective defense remains the cornerstone of NATO but argued that the alliance must adapt to an increasingly complex security landscape characterized by multi-domain threats and rapidly evolving challenges.

He said traditional measures of military strength are no longer sufficient, stressing that NATO's effectiveness should increasingly be assessed through deployable capabilities, defense-industrial capacity, and operational readiness.

The Turkish foreign minister also underlined the importance of a stronger European contribution to the alliance's security efforts. However, he warned that restrictions on defense-industrial cooperation among allies hinder efficiency and slow collective responses to emerging threats.

"These constraints have become strategic liabilities," Fidan said, calling for European defense initiatives to remain fully inclusive of all NATO members.

Addressing the broader goals of the summit, Fidan said the key challenge facing the alliance is not only determining how to respond to security threats but also organizing cooperation in a manner that reflects current geopolitical realities.

He expressed confidence that the Ankara Summit would help guide NATO in adapting its structures and policies to meet the demands of a rapidly changing international environment.

Türkiye's objective, Fidan added, is to contribute to the development of "a more coherent, more capable, and more resilient Alliance" as NATO seeks to strengthen deterrence, enhance defense cooperation, and address a widening range of security challenges.

The NATO Summit in Ankara brings together leaders from the alliance's 32 member states, along with partner countries and international organizations, for discussions on collective defense, defense spending, industrial cooperation, the war in Ukraine, and regional security developments. As one of the alliance's key members, Türkiye has positioned itself at the center of efforts to shape NATO's strategic priorities amid an increasingly uncertain global landscape. (ILKHA)