Turkey

Abstract This chapter deals with Turkey’s policy towards NATO. Realpolitik remains the key analytical framework to grasp Turkey as a NATO nation. With its strong military and burgeoning defence technological and industrial base, Turkey brings a combat-proven warfighting capacity to the Alliance which can be matched by only a few other allies. This is essential at a time of escalatory challenges of interstate and hybrid conflicts. Geopolitics is yet another explanatory framework broadly used in this chapter. Turkey’s critical geopolitical setting, ranging from its control over the Straits to being the sole NATO nation with a land connection to the Middle East and the Caucasus, is important for NATO’s geostrategic outlook. Yet, from Turkey’s downing of a Russian Aero-Space Forces Su-24 frontline bomber in 2015 to its 2019 procurement of Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system, Turkey’s strategic agenda has navigated through complicated patterns. Turkey has also provided Ukraine with armed drones and developed a firm defence partnership with Kyiv amidst Russia’s reactions. At present, while Turkey’s quest for further marge de manoeuvre in international affairs can cause drifts with some Western nations, its contribution to NATO efforts remains high, showcasing the compartmentalization between Turkey’s bilateral relations with the West and its NATO paradigm. Looking forward, while Turkey will keep depending on NATO in defence planning, this dependency has gradually become more ‘refined’ in defence technological aspects, predominantly revolving around strategic weapon systems, advanced battle networks, and nuclear deterrent.