Türkiye plays a vital role in NATO's deterrence posture and efforts to maintain stability across its southern flank, a senior alliance official said, highlighting Ankara's growing strategic importance as NATO advances a comprehensive "360-degree" security approach ahead of an upcoming summit in Ankara.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Anadolu, Javier Colomina, NATO secretary general's special representative for the southern neighbourhood, described Türkiye as a central actor in shaping alliance policy toward the Mediterranean and wider southern neighborhood, citing its military capabilities, geographic position, and active contributions to regional security.
"Türkiye plays an essential role... is an actor that is well known for its ability to secure the shores, for its ability to provide defense industry assets, for its ability with their armed forces, and is indeed one of our more committed allies," he said.
"And particularly in the Mediterranean, it plays a huge role in ensuring that the Mediterranean is a secure basin, together with the other Allies."
Colomina said Ankara has been instrumental in developing NATO's Southern Neighborhood Action Plan and remains a key supporter of its implementation, particularly as the alliance strengthens deterrence and resilience against interconnected threats ranging from terrorism and irregular migration to geopolitical competition.
"The Southern Neighborhood, it's been an important topic for the alliance for many years, but it was a year and a half ago that we decided to approve a Southern Neighborhood Action Plan," he added, noting that Türkiye played "a very important role in making that happen."
Colomina said the Southern Neighborhood Action Plan, which is based on pillars such as political dialogue, practical cooperation, regional presence, and coordination with organizations such as the African Union, the UN, the EU, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Arab League, is heavily reliant on cooperation among allies.
"In all of those pillars… it's been very clear the support from Türkiye," he said.
The upcoming NATO summit in Ankara is expected to focus primarily on implementing decisions taken at last year's summit in The Hague, including increased defense investment targets and continued support for Ukraine.
Colomina emphasized that the geographical location of the meeting carries symbolic and strategic importance.
"The fact of having this summit in the Southern Neighborhood, geographically located in the south, as it's Ankara, would mean a lot for our Southern Neighborhood Action Plan, for the approach we have to our partners, and for all the work that we've been doing in the last couple of years," he said.
While concrete deliverables specific to the southern flank remain under discussion, he indicated that the southern dimension will likely feature prominently.
Addressing NATO's priorities in the Eastern Mediterranean, Colomina underscored long-standing cooperation frameworks such as the Mediterranean Dialogue, launched more than three decades ago, and the role played by southern allies.
"We have partners in the Mediterranean and allies that do play a role in the southern side of the alliance, from Türkiye... to Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy," he said, highlighting efforts to safeguard energy corridors and maritime routes.
According to Colomina, Türkiye is particularly influential in regional security due to its military capabilities and strategic position. He added that Ankara contributes significantly to ensuring that the Mediterranean remains "a secure basin."
NATO's evolving defense concept focuses on threats across all strategic directions, north, east, west, and south, reflecting an interconnected security environment, Colomina said.
"The 360-degree approach is at the core of everything that we do," he explained, linking the strategy to collective defense planning and deterrence efforts across the Euro-Atlantic area.
He pointed to growing challenges across the southern neighborhood, including terrorism, irregular migration, maritime and energy security concerns, cyber threats, and geopolitical competition involving Russia, China, and Iran.
NATO's response involves cooperation with a wide network of partners, including 12 southern partners among its 35 global partners, according to Colomina.
"NATO doesn't have to be the first responder for all of them," he said, emphasizing instead capacity-building initiatives and cooperation with regional partners to promote stability.
The alliance is closely monitoring developments in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, the Gulf, and the Red Sea, he said, stressing the need to contribute to stability without necessarily taking a leading operational role.
Responding to debates in some allied countries about burden-sharing and collective defense credibility, Colomina said NATO remains strong and united following decisions taken at the 2024 summit in The Hague.
"I think we had a historical summit in The Hague last summer, where we took historical decisions to increase our investment to 5%," he said, calling the move evidence of the alliance's "good health" and continued commitment to Article 5 mutual defense guarantees.
He noted that many allies have significantly increased defense spending and capabilities while emphasizing the continued role of the US within NATO.
"That doesn't mean that the Americans will no longer be with us. They still have 80,000 soldiers in Europe," he said, adding that greater European and Canadian contributions will ultimately strengthen the alliance.
Despite regional crises, NATO continues to rely on structured dialogue mechanisms such as the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, which bring together partners from the Mediterranean and Gulf regions.
"We need to work with all of them," Colomina said, stressing flexible and tailored approaches to cooperation. He noted that NATO marked the 30th anniversary of the Mediterranean Dialogue and the 20th anniversary of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative in 2024, underlining their continued relevance.
Congratulating Türkiye on the 74th anniversary of its NATO membership, Colomina described Ankara as a major contributor to alliance security and defense efforts.
"Türkiye contributes greatly to our security and defense efforts, particularly in the southern neighborhood, being one of the countries more exposed to southern neighborhood challenges," he said, praising the country's defense industry and military capabilities across land, sea, and air.
"We're very pleased with the work that we continue to do with our Turkish friends everywhere where we are deployed and in Brussels, where we work on a daily basis," he added.
