Erdogan says Turkey must be ‘included’ in European security mechanisms before Nato summit

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday Turkey must be part of all of Europe’s defense and security structures, a week before a major Nato meeting in Ankara.

His views come amid a push to overhaul European defences in the face of the danger from Russia and the potential of a US withdrawal from Nato as the military alliance gets ready for a major summit in the Turkish city on July 7-8.

Turkiye’s vital contributions to European security are frequently underappreciated, Erdogan told legislative delegations from all 32 Nato member states in Istanbul, saying Turkiye wished “to be part of all defence and security initiatives” in the continent.

The dispute centres on Turkey’s access to the European Union’s 150 billion euro ($176 billion) Security Action for Europe (Safe) project, a programme that is vital to enhancing European security capabilities.

Greece has vowed to prevent Turkey’s access to the Safe project, which it is technically eligible for but needs the consent of all 27 EU countries.

“We are expecting your support, lawmakers, for Turkiye’s inclusion in the defence and security initiatives announced by the EU,” Erdogan told them.

The Turkish leader also called on Nato to remove all obstacles to military sector trade among alliance members.

“We need to tear down the barriers to defence industry trade while ensuring a balanced and fair burden-sharing among allies if we are to overcome the challenges we face,” he said.

Turkey has the second largest army in the alliance behind the United States and a growing defence sector which has been going from strength to strength, supported by bilateral defence transactions.

But its defence industry has been hit by US sanctions imposed over Ankara’s purchase of an S-400 Russian surface-to-air missile defence system, with Washington also booting Turkiye out of its F-35 programme, in a move that has soured relations between the two Nato allies.

Washington says it wants to draw a line under the disagreement, but eliminating the so-called CAATSA restrictions requires Congressional approval and analysts say there was little chance it would be settled by the time of the summit.

But US President Donald Trump has promised to do something to make Erdogan “very happy” when he flies to Turkiye for the Nato get-together alongside a host of other foreign leaders.

Analysts believe it will be a delivery of a few dozen US-made F110 engines Turkiye needs for its fifth-generation KAAN fighter jets, under development and whose delivery has been halted since the installation of the CAATSA sanctions.