Politics
Türkiye ranks among NATO’s strongest military powers: Rutte
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday described Türkiye as one of the alliance’s strongest military powers ahead of next week’s NATO summit in Ankara, saying the country will play a key role in strengthening the alliance’s defense industrial base and implementing commitments made at the alliance’s previous summit.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) at NATO headquarters in Brussels before the July 7-8 Ankara summit, Rutte said Türkiye remains a vital ally with one of NATO’s most capable armed forces and a rapidly expanding defense industry.
“Türkiye is extremely important to NATO,” Rutte said. “It has one of the strongest armies in the alliance. The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are very well-equipped and well-trained, and Türkiye has the advantage of a massive defense industry.”
NATO staged its biggest exercise this year in Germany, with some 10,000 personnel from 11 countries. Türkiye, which has the defense body’s second-largest army, dispatched 2,000 personnel for the Steadfast Dart 2026 in February. The exercise aimed to showcase NATO’s ability to deploy rapidly and conduct complex operations, the body said in a statement.
It was the first time that Türkiye sent so many troops to Northern Europe, though the country is a major component of NATO at a time of heightened defense worries in Europe.
Türkiye also hosts critical NATO facilities, including the Allied Land Command, which is located in the western city of Izmir, and the Rapid Deployable Corps, which is based in Istanbul. The capital, Ankara, hosts the Center of Excellence for Defence Against Terrorism (COE-DAT) and the Partnership for Peace Training Center. Istanbul hosts the NATO Maritime Security Center of Excellence (MARSEC COE).
Moreover, Rutte said he hopes the Ankara summit will be remembered as the meeting where allies began implementing the pledges they made at the alliance’s summit in The Hague.
“We made the commitments in The Hague. The Ankara summit should be the implementation summit,” he said.
According to Rutte, defense spending will be one of the three main priorities of the gathering, alongside continued support for Ukraine and advancing what he described as “NATO 3.0,” a vision for a stronger alliance with greater European responsibility for collective defense.
“We need to recruit the men and women who will serve in our armed forces, and we must significantly expand defense industrial production,” Rutte said. “We have to increase this capacity very quickly.”
Explaining his vision of “NATO 3.0,” Rutte said the concept represents a new balance of responsibilities within the alliance, with European allies assuming a greater share of defense spending and operational leadership while the United States maintains its critical military and nuclear role.
“NATO 3.0 means moving beyond a NATO that relied too heavily on the United States,” he said. “The U.S. will remain indispensable through its conventional military capabilities and nuclear deterrence, but Europe will take on greater responsibility.”
He said European allies are expected to assume command of NATO’s three Joint Force Commands in the near future, while Europe and Canada will also finance a greater share of military assistance to Ukraine, even as Washington continues supplying key military equipment.
According to Rutte, a more balanced distribution of responsibilities will strengthen NATO’s deterrence against potential adversaries.
Addressing security challenges facing the alliance, Rutte identified Russia as NATO’s primary long-term threat, citing Moscow’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
“Unfortunately, the main long-term threat we face is Russia,” he said. “We see this clearly in Russia’s irrational war of aggression against Ukraine.”
Rutte argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin has demonstrated a willingness to sustain heavy military losses, saying Russia is accepting roughly 35,000 soldiers killed or seriously wounded each month.
“That shows Ukraine is fighting effectively on the battlefield,” he said, while noting the human cost of the conflict for soldiers and their families.
He also warned against underestimating China’s military modernization, noting projections that Beijing could possess around 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.
“We should not be naive about China,” Rutte said, adding that Russia is increasingly cooperating with China, Iran and North Korea.
While describing that partnership as a growing strategic concern, Rutte maintained that Russia remains NATO’s principal long-term security challenge.
The Ankara summit is expected to focus on implementing alliance defense commitments, expanding defense production, sustaining military support for Ukraine and advancing NATO’s long-term adaptation to evolving global security threats.
Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has removed provincial officials in 26 provinces as part of an internal restructuring process, while reaffirming its support for the government’s “Terror-Free Türkiye” initiative, party spokesperson Müslim Sarı said Tuesday.
Speaking after a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Board (MYK) chaired by CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Sarı said the leadership had reviewed the party’s internal functioning since May 21 and taken disciplinary measures to protect its institutional structure.
“Our institutional identity is our red line,” Sarı said, adding that disciplinary procedures and dismissals had been implemented against officials deemed to have undermined the party’s organizational framework.
The decisions affected provincial organizations in 26 provinces, including Ağrı, Aksaray, Amasya, Batman, Bilecik, Bolu, Çanakkale, Denizli, Diyarbakır, Eskişehir, Hakkari, Iğdır, Kars, Kırıkkale, Manisa, Mardin, Muğla, Muş, Nevşehir, Samsun, Sivas and Tunceli, as well as several district branches. In Sinop, only the provincial chair was removed while the rest of the executive board remained in office.
Sarı said disciplinary proceedings seeking expulsion had been initiated against seven provincial chairs, including the heads of the party organizations in Denizli, Muğla, Eskişehir, Sinop, Düzce, Kars and Tunceli.
He also announced that new provincial chairs had been appointed in six provinces, Batman, Çanakkale, Mardin, Niğde, Osmaniye and Tunceli.
“In summary, officials have been removed in 26 provinces. Seven provincial chairs have been referred to the disciplinary board, and new appointments have been made in six provinces,” Sarı said.
Separately, Sarı reiterated the CHP’s support for the parliamentary commission report related to the “Terror-Free Türkiye” initiative, saying the party backed efforts aimed at strengthening national unity and security.
“As the Republican People’s Party, we stand behind the commission’s report,” he stressed. “We support this process for the unity of the country, the security of the state, and national solidarity and brotherhood.”
National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Director Ibrahim Kalın met with Egyptian General Intelligence Service chief Hassan Rashad in Ankara on Monday to discuss the Gaza cease-fire, bilateral ties and a range of regional security issues, Turkish security sources said.
The two intelligence chiefs reviewed the implementation of the second phase of the Gaza cease-fire agreement and agreed to continue strengthening coordination and cooperation to help prevent Israel’s escalating violations of the truce, the sources said.
Kalın reaffirmed Türkiye’s commitment to supporting the Palestinian people, stressing that Ankara would continue to stand by Palestinians with all available means, as it has done throughout the conflict.
The meeting also covered Türkiye-Egypt bilateral relations and regional developments, including efforts to unify political authorities and military forces in eastern and western Libya under a single administration.
The officials further exchanged views on the latest developments in Somalia and discussed the ongoing conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.
The meeting comes as Ankara and Cairo continue to deepen cooperation on regional security following the normalization of diplomatic relations, with Gaza remaining a key focus of coordination between the two countries.
Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications’ Disinformation Combat Center (DMM) warned against fake posts about the upcoming NATO summit that imitate the names and logos of public institutions.
In a statement on its NSosyal account on Wednesday, the DMM said images, documents and content shared on some social media accounts and messaging channels that include the phrase “NATO Summit Security Coordination Center” and claim that an “application portal for priority public institution employees” had been created were entirely fake.
The statement said no such center had been established under any official authority.
“The document and application screen shown in the images and content do not belong to any system prepared by the relevant official authorities. Such fake posts, created by imitating the names and logos of public institutions, are attempts to mislead the public and obtain personal information through cyber fraud,” the DMM said.
It added that legal proceedings had been swiftly launched against those producing and spreading the fake content.
The DMM urged citizens and public employees to remain highly cautious against such manipulation and to follow developments and announcements only through official channels of authorized institutions.
In a separate statement, the DMM also denied claims that all passengers traveling to Ankara by plane, train or bus were being individually subjected to background checks because of the NATO summit.
“The claim that “all plane, train and bus passengers traveling to Ankara due to the NATO summit are being individually subjected to GBT checks” does not reflect the truth,” the statement said, referring to Türkiye’s General Information Gathering background check system.
The DMM said additional security measures had been taken across the capital as part of the NATO summit, but there was no systematic GBT procedure for citizens traveling to the city, as claimed.
It said passengers at airports, train stations or bus terminals were not being stopped and subjected to background checks unless there was a concrete security reason or suspicion.
The center urged the public not to trust manipulative posts that distort security measures to create panic, fear or the perception that freedom of travel has been restricted.
Türkiye and Kyrgyzstan pledged Wednesday to deepen their strategic partnership by expanding trade, investment and transportation cooperation while reaffirming support for diplomatic efforts to resolve regional conflicts.
Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubayev made the remarks after co-chairing the seventh meeting of the Türkiye-Kyrgyzstan Joint Strategic Planning Group with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Ankara.
Speaking at a joint news conference, Kulubayev described the talks as “productive and comprehensive,” saying they were held in an atmosphere of mutual understanding, openness and trust.
“The discussions clearly demonstrated our shared determination to further strengthen and develop cooperation between our countries,” he said.
The ministers reviewed the current state of bilateral relations and discussed concrete steps to deepen cooperation in a wide range of fields, including trade, investment, transportation, education and cultural exchanges.
Kulubayev said the two sides also discussed preparations for reciprocal visits by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov to Türkiye and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Kyrgyzstan.
He said economic cooperation remained one of the meeting’s top priorities, adding that both governments reaffirmed their political support for mutually beneficial investment projects and their commitment to creating favorable conditions for new joint initiatives.
The ministers also discussed measures to facilitate travel, work and educational opportunities for citizens of both countries while strengthening people-to-people ties between the two nations.
Highlighting regional connectivity, Kulubayev said the Middle Corridor remains one of Kyrgyzstan’s strategic priorities.
He said Bishkek aims to connect the planned China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway to the Middle Corridor, allowing access through Türkiye to European and Arab markets.
“For us, the Middle Corridor is one of the most important routes,” Kulubayev said.
Regional and global security issues also featured prominently during the talks, according to the Kyrgyz minister.
He said both countries agreed that international disputes should be resolved through dialogue, diplomacy and international law rather than conflict.
Kulubayev also praised Türkiye’s diplomatic mediation efforts in regional crises.
“We have always supported Türkiye’s reforms and its mediation efforts,” he said. “Türkiye plays one of the most important roles in establishing peace in the region and resolving crises.”
He thanked President Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Fidan for their diplomatic initiatives and invited Fidan to pay an official visit to Kyrgyzstan.
Kulubayev also expressed gratitude for Türkiye’s support during Kyrgyzstan’s successful campaign for a non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council for the 2027-2028 term.
He said Kyrgyzstan intends to serve as a constructive bridge-builder capable of promoting dialogue and diplomacy among countries with differing interests while advocating for the interests of landlocked developing countries, mountainous nations and small island states.
Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said Wednesday that Türkiye’s military presence on the island and its guarantor status remain a “red line” for the Turkish Cypriot people, arguing they are essential for security, regional stability and the balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In a written statement carried by the Turkish New Agency-Cyprus (TAK), Ertuğruloğlu rejected renewed calls for a federal settlement to the decades-old Cyprus dispute, saying past negotiations had repeatedly demonstrated that such efforts were no longer viable.
“The reality on the island is the existence of two sovereign states living side by side,” he said, arguing that attempts to hold the Turkish Cypriot community responsible for the lack of a settlement through international isolation were unjustified.
Ertuğruloğlu said Türkiye’s “effective and de facto guarantee” and the continued presence of Turkish troops on the island were indispensable to the security of Turkish Cypriots. He also described Türkiye’s role as the strongest guarantee of the strategic balance between Türkiye and Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean and of broader regional stability.
The minister criticized Greek Cypriot positions during previous rounds of U.N.-backed peace negotiations, saying their insistence on governing the island alone, treating Turkish Cypriots as a minority and demanding “zero troops, zero guarantees” had rendered federation-based solutions obsolete.
He referred to the 2004 U.N.-backed Annan Plan and the 2017 talks in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, as examples of failed efforts that demonstrated the limits of a federal model.
Ertuğruloğlu said the future of Turkish Cypriots lay in strengthening the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in close cooperation with Türkiye rather than returning to what he described as exhausted negotiation frameworks.
He also criticized attempts to link progress in Türkiye’s relations with the European Union to developments in the Cyprus issue, accusing the bloc of consistently siding with the Greek Cypriot administration.
“How can the European Union, which has always taken the side of the Greek Cypriots, be expected to act fairly toward the Turkish Cypriot people?” he said.
Recalling the 2004 referendum on the Annan Plan, Ertuğruloğlu said Turkish Cypriots had learned from what he described as the EU’s failure to fulfill expectations following their support for the plan.
Türkiye has increasingly advocated a two-state solution for Cyprus in recent years, arguing that any lasting settlement must be based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people.
An audit report has raised questions over the finances and record-keeping of a foundation whose board of trustees includes senior members of Türkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), according to documents submitted to an Izmir court.
The report by Türkiye’s General Directorate of Foundations, which was presented to the Izmir 15th Criminal Court of First Instance, examines the financial records of the Türkiye Promotion, Research, Democracy and Secular Formation Foundation, known as TÜLOV.
Among those listed as members of the foundation’s board of trustees are CHP lawmakers Özgür Özel and Veli Ağbaba.
According to the audit, the foundation’s reported income increased from TL 99,000 (approximately $2,100) in 2020 to TL 268,000 in 2021 and TL 3.9 million in 2022 before reaching TL 37.4 million (about $805,000) in 2023, the year Türkiye held presidential and parliamentary elections. The report said expenditures for 2023 matched the reported income.
Auditors also identified what they described as inconsistencies in the foundation’s “Askıda Bilet” (Ticket on Hold) and “Democracy Ticket” campaigns, which were launched after the devastating Feb. 6, 2023, earthquakes to help university students and displaced voters travel to their registered polling locations.
The report said nearly 19,000 ticket vouchers appeared to have been entered into the system more than once. It also cited more than 700 duplicate tickets and about 300 cases in which different passenger names were associated with the same electronic ticket number. Auditors further reported discrepancies involving national identity numbers, telephone records and ticket information, as well as differences between the foundation’s records and those provided by a contracted bus company.
The audit also referred to allegations involving Muğla Mayor Ahmet Aras, saying that while serving as mayor of Bodrum, he allocated municipal property to the foundation for two years in a manner that allegedly violated regulations and that the foundation continued using the premises without paying rent after the allocation period expired.
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