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Nato has urged the EU and Turkey to improve their relations as US President Donald Trump’s retreat from European security forces the continent’s capitals to rapidly rethink their alliances.
Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte has privately urged EU leaders to step up engagement with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after years of strained relations, according to officials briefed on his remarks
It comes as Brussels explores way to increase collaboration with Turkey and other non-EU neighbours as part of a massive scale-up of European defence capabilities.
Trump’s threats to withdraw US security guarantees to European Nato allies and his move to restart ties with Russia and cut off support to Ukraine have spooked EU capitals. As well as a rush to increase defence spending, some EU capitals have championed working in a “coalition of the willing” with non-EU countries such as Norway and the UK.
Turkey’s foreign minister Hakan Fidan attended a gathering of Europe’s main military powers in London earlier this month to discuss support for Ukraine and wider defence issues.
That followed a plea from Rutte at a private lunch with EU leaders earlier in February where he raised the importance of increased co-operation with Turkey and urged those present to engage with Ankara to make it work, according to three people briefed on the discussion.
A spokesperson for Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister who at times clashed bitterly with Erdoğan during his time in office, declined to comment. The Nato secretary-general told the European parliament in January that “involving non-EU allies in EU defence industrial efforts is vital, I believe, for the security of Europe”.
“Things change. At a certain point in time you need to decide who you would like on your team, regardless of any issues you might have,” said one senior EU official regarding relations with Turkey. “But they also need to sort out their ambiguity over Russia.”
Turkey has not joined the EU and other western allies in imposing direct sanctions on Moscow in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has maintained strong economic and energy ties with Russia. Athens has pointed to Turkey’s lack of participation in the sanctions regime.
While the EU’s direct involvement in defence and security issues is limited to areas such as military mobility and some peacekeeping and monitoring missions, the bloc has significant financial levers to shape defence industry collaboration.
Turkey’s significant weapons industry is an element in a wider tussle among member states over whether third-country defence companies should benefit from EU initiatives to increase arms spending. The push to increase engagement with Ankara is also aimed at bilateral ties with EU capitals, officials said.
Turkey is technically an EU accession candidate, but the process has long been moribund. The bloc suspended various dialogue channels — including related to security and defence — partly due to a surge in tensions with Greece.
One Greek diplomat said Athens remained “cautious rather than dogmatic” on an increased defence collaboration with Ankara. “Turkey has to be constructive in dealing with outstanding issues with member states,” he added, referring to Greece and Cyprus.
EU member state Cyprus, which has been split since 1974 when Turkey invaded its north in response to an Athens-inspired coup that aimed to unite the island with Greece, is one of the biggest obstacles to deepening ties. Turkish officials complain that the situation over the island of just over 1mn people has hamstrung initiatives to broaden co-operation on European security issues.
Trump’s arrival has shifted perspectives, multiple diplomats told the Financial Times.
“We are currently determining the best course of action,” Fidan told the FT last week when asked about Trump’s potential impact on Europe’s security arrangements. “If it results in a new European security structure, we are prepared to collaborate.”
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