NATO chief calls Türkiye ‘great example’ of defense industry organization ahead of July summit in Ankara

The chief of NATO said Friday that the alliance’s urgent need to boost defense industrial production will be discussed at the July summit in Ankara, hailing Türkiye as “a great example of how to organize a defense industrial base.”

“We need to produce more, but clearly also the defense industrial base is now making that mindset shift, which is so necessary, and of course, here, Türkiye, with over 3,000 companies, is extremely important, and also a great example of how to organize a defense industrial base,” Secretary-General Mark Rutte told a press conference following a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden.

Rutte said the foreign ministers discussed strengthening the alliance and reaffirming commitments to collective defense ahead of the July 7-8 summit in Ankara, the Turkish capital.

“Sharing common commitments to our collective defense and making the alliance stronger and a stronger NATO is what we have been discussing here in Helsingborg today, because the threats we face are real and we are committed to ensuring that NATO remains ready to address any challenge today, tomorrow, and well beyond today,” he said.

Commenting on preparations for the Ankara summit and the alliance’s current state, Rutte said NATO was “more aligned today than before.”

“You always have discussions, and then when you come together in a ministerial meeting like this one, it always helps to align positions,” he said. “In the end we all have the same goal, and let’s work towards that.”

Rutte said Türkiye would “put up an incredible show in Ankara” and that the summit would strongly focus on increased defense spending and the path toward the 5% target.

He also confirmed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend the Ankara summit.

“I invited him already. Yes, I did. He will be there,” Rutte said.

Need to ‘produce faster on both sides of Atlantic’

Rutte also noted that the allies had made “a historic commitment” at last year’s Hague summit to invest 5% of GDP in defense and said progress is already visible.

“Defense investments from European allies and Canada were up by 20%. This trend will continue,” he said, adding that the foreign ministers discussed how countries were “charting a credible path to the 5%.”

Rutte said NATO allies recognize that current industrial production levels are insufficient to meet growing defense needs.

“We know that today our industries are not able to produce everything we require, so foreign ministers addressed this urgent need to ramp up defense industrial production across the alliance,” he said. “We need to produce faster and at greater scale on both sides of the Atlantic.”

He added that the foreign ministers agreed that NATO members must continue pressing for closer cooperation across the alliance to boost defense industrial capacity as allies step up investments and production.

Rutte also stressed that the European allies and Canada are taking on greater responsibility for collective security, saying it would make “the whole alliance stronger, firmly anchored by the transatlantic bond.”

“Let me be crystal clear, allies’ commitment to Article 5 is ironclad,” Rutte said, referring to the famous collective defense clause of the NATO charter.

“Our resolve and ability to defend every ally is absolute. Were anyone to be foolish enough to attack us, the response would be devastating. This is a defensive alliance. We are strengthening NATO to deter aggression and to ensure we are able to defend it if necessary.”