The Nato summit hosted in Ankara, which began on Tuesday, 7 July, marks a distinct shift in how European allies engage with Turkey. While the country’s growing importance in security matters has become a central focus, European nations appear to be increasingly overlooking the internal repression of the Turkish opposition. This current pragmatism contrasts sharply with the situation a decade ago, when leaders from Germany, France, and Denmark opposed President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s bid to host a Nato summit in Istanbul due to his undemocratic behavior.
For many European citizens, the last ten years have been defined by a desire for distance from Turkey, fueled by the arrests of opposition figures, violations of democratic norms, military incursions against Kurdish self-administration in northern Syria, and a perceived negligence regarding jihadists transiting through Turkey to join the Islamic State. However, a complete diplomatic divorce between these allies was always viewed as a short-sighted move that would have handed a strategic victory to Russia. Nato’s continued reliance on Turkish security forces remains vital for maintaining influence in the Black Sea and the eastern Mediterranean.
The relationship between the West and Turkey has frequently appeared fragile. Ten years ago, following an unsuccessful military coup against Erdoğan, the Turkish president suspected American secret services of backing the putschists. In contrast, Russian leader Vladimir Putin was the first to reach out to the Turkish president during that crisis. This led to Turkey purchasing Russian anti-aircraft defense systems incompatible with Nato standards, resulting in the country’s exclusion from the American F-35 fighter jet program. Despite repeated meetings between Putin and Erdoğan to deepen their energy partnership, fears of a total collapse of the Nato-Turkey alliance were ultimately overstated.
Part of the tension in the relationship stemmed from a fundamental misunderstanding of Turkish security priorities from the European perspective. While the United States armed Kurdish militias to combat the Islamic State in Syria, a significant portion of the Turkish public viewed these same militias as their primary national security threat, a divergence in perspective that created lasting friction within the alliance.
Exactly 10 years ago, an unsuccessful military coup against Erdoğan took place on the Bosporus. He barely escaped and suspected the US secret services of supporting the putschists.
