Türkiye marks 73 years of NATO accession
ANKARA
Türkiye has played a pivotal role within NATO since its accession in 1952, making substantial contributions to the alliance’s international missions.
Türkiye formally joined NATO on Feb. 18, 1952, following the ratification of its accession documents by then-President Celal Bayar, thereby becoming, alongside Greece, one of the first two nations to integrate into the alliance after its 1949 founding by the 12 original signatories.
Türkiye’s accession was regarded as a strategic augmentation to NATO’s southern flank, endowing the alliance with formidable air, land and naval assets while bolstering its collective defense framework with a highly capable and steadfast ally.
Today, Türkiye ranks among the top five contributors to NATO’s operations and missions.
The country met NATO’s defense spending benchmark in 2024, with its projected defense expenditure reaching 2.09 percent of its gross domestic product, placing it among the 23 NATO members that achieved this target.
Regarding NATO common funds, Türkiye ranks as the eighth largest contributor to the military budget, with a 4.59 percent share.
Additionally, it holds the seventh position in terms of personnel contributions to all posts within NATO’s command structure.
Recently, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stated that the foundation of the Turkish defense industry is impressive, praising the existence of hundreds of organizations and thousands of companies working on innovation.
Rutte noted that hundreds of organizations are working on innovation and that there are thousands of companies as part of the Defense Industry Presidency, recalling that he met with Defense Industry President Haluk Görgün both during his visit to Ankara and in Brussels.
“This is really important, and I know that what you are doing in Türkiye is in close cooperation with other allies in Europe and with us. Indeed, the Turkish industry supplies the most important components, including end products. We can only ask you to do more."
