NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Monday hailed “invaluable” contributions from Türkiye to the defense bloc ahead of his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the capital Ankara.
“In an increasingly unpredictable world, Türkiye makes invaluable contributions to our Alliance, reinforcing deterrence on our Southern flank,” Rutte told Anadolu Agency (AA) in a statement.
He said he was “looking forward to meeting” with Erdoğan to discuss major global issues, including the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East.
“I am looking forward to meeting President Erdoğan to discuss the growing challenges to our collective security – including the threat of terrorism, the war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East,” Rutte said.
Rutte underlined that Türkiye “has the second-largest army in NATO, an impressive defense industry, and has been a strong and committed Ally for more than 70 years.”
The alliance chief met with Erdoğan on Monday afternoon at the presidential complex. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Defense Minister Yaşar Güler accompanied Erdoğan and Rutte at the meeting.
Rutte’s itinerary also includes engagements with representatives of Türkiye’s defense industry and a visit to the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) facilities where five people were killed in a terror attack by PKK last month.
This marks Rutte’s first official visit to Ankara since assuming his role as the alliance’s secretary-general in October.
Türkiye has questioned Rutte’s stance on counterterrorism, sanctions against the Turkish defense industry and relations between the alliance and the European Union, which long-stalled Türkiye’s accession bid.
Before he was named NATO chief, Türkiye said it expected the new head of the military bloc to “serve the needs and interests of allies” regarding counterterrorism and to take account of the “sensitivities of non-European Union member allies.”
For Türkiye, counterterrorism largely includes the fight against the PKK and its offshoots, a terrorist group that has led a bloody insurgency against the Turkish state since the 1980s, claiming more than 40,000 lives. It is recognized as a terrorist group in Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.
Ankara often condemns “relations” between the terrorist group and certain NATO members as “unacceptable,” “a threat against member states” as well as “against the spirit of alliance.” Those members include the United States, which openly supports the Syrian wing of the PKK through military equipment shipment, under the guise of a fight against Daesh in Syria.
It refused to ratify the membership bids of Sweden and Finland for more than a year until the Nordic nations met Turkish demands like tightened measures against terrorist groups.