To hedge against US uncertainty under Trump, Europe will likely bolster security ties with Turkey. Ankara’s strategic flexibility, drone advantage, and mediation roles make it indispensable to NATO and EU continental defense architecture.
Turkey security partnership Europe faces a critical test. A stronger Turkey security partnership Europe is now unavoidable. To hedge against US uncertainty, Europe will have little choice but to bolster its Turkey security partnership Europe.
Why Turkey Security Partnership Europe Is No Longer Optional
To hedge against US uncertainty, Europe will have little choice but to bolster its security partnership with Turkey.
Most would agree that the Trump administration has significantly changed the direction, tactics, and long-term goals of American foreign policy over the last six months, especially regarding long-standing allies and multilateral organizations, with NATO and the European Union taking the hardest hits. Yet, some longstanding US allies have quickly learned to benefit from the mercurial administration.
Güler’s Call for Deeper Military Ties
On April 9, Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler made the case for greater military cooperation between Turkey and the European Union months ahead of the scheduled 2026 NATO Summit in Ankara. While Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952, its exclusion from the EU has created a strategic gap, as technical reforms (such as the Military Schengen Scheme) implemented in Europe have not been applied to Turkey.
Güler claimed that the status quo military architecture is insufficient to meet both Turkey’s and Europe’s security needs arising from the ongoing Ukraine War, the economic aftershocks of the Iran War, and President Donald Trump’s threats to withdraw the United States from NATO. Gular further asserted, “Turkey is no longer a flank country on NATO’s southeastern periphery. It is a central ally capable of generating security across the entire European theater.”
While international media have been primarily focused on US-Europe tensions relating to the Iran War, Güler’s remarks should not be overlooked. The decline of American soft power in Europe will undoubtedly reconfigure regional geopolitical dynamics in favor of Ankara.
How Turkey Security Partnership Europe Changes Diplomacy
One key factor driving Turkey’s emergence as an important player for both the EU and NATO is its embrace of a “zero problems with neighbors” foreign policy and stated desire to serve as a stabilizing force with partners in Europe, North Africa, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Today, Ankara is engaged in mediating efforts between the United States and Iran and relaying messages between the two nations. It is also consulting with other Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia to mitigate the war’s regional impacts and possibly join a regional defense alliance.
For the previous four years, Turkey has also acted as a mediator between Kyiv and Moscow amid the Ukraine War, providing weaponry, defense systems, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine while maintaining diplomatic and economic relations with Russia.
The country’s role as a “balancing” actor is not a sign of internal ambivalence but rather a calculated foreign policy that allows Ankara to pursue its national interests, detached from any one geopolitical bloc or ideological cause. This strategic flexibility allows Turkey to operate in an uncertain geopolitical order while slowly gaining credibility and diplomatic capital with a diverse range of countries.
Turkey’s Leverage Inside NATO and EU
In Brussels, Turkey has gained credibility by enhancing defense cooperation with Ukraine, securing the legitimacy of Ahmed Al-Shara in Syria, and aligning with the bloc’s priorities on migration management and counter-terrorism operations. Some EU officials have called for deeper engagement, suggesting that Brussels and Ankara should create a structured platform for infrastructure protection and conflict resolution in the South Caucasus and further upgrade intelligence sharing in the Black Sea to monitor Russia’s naval operations in the region.
On an individual basis, European countries are looking to Turkey as a reliable security partner, with the United Kingdom set to sell 20 Eurofighter jets to the country in October 2025. Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed this deal as “a win for British workers, a win for our defense industry, and a win for NATO security.”
More recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky underscored Turkey’s strategic importance in NATO-led air, land, and sea operations, stating in a recent interview with the Ukrainian News Agency (UNN) that “without Ukraine and Turkey, Europe cannot match Russia.”
Turkey Security Partnership Europe Depends on Drone Power
A key element of Turkey’s geopolitical ascendance is its extensive investment in drone production, with Baykar (a private defense company with close ties to the government) exporting $1.8 billion worth of drones in 2024 alone. The company’s flagship prototype, the Bayraktar TB2, has been fielded in over 30 countries and has been deployed by combatants in Sudan, Ethiopia, Ukraine, Libya, and the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
While this may seem unrelated to European security issues on the surface, Turkish drone producers have gained a competitive edge over their American counterparts. The Bayraktar TB2 is much cheaper than US-made platforms, including the MQ-9 Reaper, and has proven an effective asset in intelligence operations, precision strikes, and reconnaissance missions across various domains. With EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen recently advocating for a European “drone wall” stretching from northern Finland to southern Bulgaria, European defense contractors will likely look to Turkey’s young yet productive manufacturing sector as a new source of drones.
The Future of Turkey Security Partnership Europe Post-2028
Only time will tell how Turkey’s geopolitical standing will be affected by ongoing conflicts and the decline of America’s popularity in Europe. However, NATO and the EU now view Turkey as indispensable to continental security, rather than merely a tangential partner. For this reason, Brussels, London, Paris, and Berlin may increasingly look to Ankara to help restructure the continent’s military architecture in the event of Washington’s withdrawal from or downscaling of the NATO alliance before the next US presidential election in November 2028.