Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, who was in the United States to attend an event bringing together parliamentary speakers of the NATO alliance's member states, called the bloc to reevaluate its role in changing the world.
"Türkiye, as one of NATO's important allies, will continue its membership in NATO and will continue its bilateral relations both institutionally in NATO and with other NATO member countries,” Kurtulmuş told Turkish journalists in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. "However, in general, we believe that NATO should also review its new functions in this process,” he added. Türkiye, which boasts NATO's second-largest army, has been a member of the alliance for over 70 years. The fact that some issues with the potential for global conflict have come to the fore, especially the Russia-Ukraine crisis, shows how NATO must take certain steps beyond being just a cooperation and solidarity organization in security matters, he added.
"Undoubtedly, the most important of these (functions) is that NATO has a deterrence and security perspective, but in addition, it must also have a peace mission and we believe that NATO must review its own duties to establish peace," he added. Saying that the current era contains significant threats and opportunities, he stressed that the unipolar world order has changed and a new multipolar world system has begun.
In relation to relations with the U.S., Kurtulmuş said that Türkiye works to discuss problems diplomatically at the table. "Today, while we have the opportunity to work together with the U.S. on many issues, we also have significant disagreements on some issues. But Türkiye shares our ideas with our interlocutors on how to put aside our differences of opinion and how to act jointly and solve problems," he added.
Turkish-U.S. relations have been strained in recent years due to U.S. support for the terror group YPG/PKK in northern Syria and disagreements concerning Türkiye’s 2017 purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system. "Unfortunately, despite our strategic partnership and close cooperation in many areas, the U.S. continues to provide logistical, intelligence and political support to the PYD. I want to say that this is the most important difference that poisons our relations," Kurtulmuş said. Türkiye has long complained of the U.S. working with the PKK/YPG on the pretext of fighting the terrorist group Daesh. Turkish officials have said using one terrorist group to fight another makes no sense.
On sanctions on Türkiye under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), Kurtulmuş said Türkiye's exclusion from the F-35 program is a "serious double standard." "Türkiye was excluded from a project that we founded from the very beginning without any reasonable justification. I hope the money we paid there will be returned," he added. Washington has long tried to deter countries from buying military equipment from Russia, threatening them with punitive measures under CAATSA. In 2019, under then-President Donald Trump, the U.S. suspended Türkiye from the F-35 fighter jet program after objecting to its buying a Russian S-400 missile defense system, claiming the Russian system would endanger the fighter jets. Türkiye has repeatedly said that there is no conflict between the two and has proposed a commission to study the issue. Türkiye also said it fulfilled its obligations on the F-35s and that its suspension broke the rules. Ankara maintains that the fighter jets would strengthen not only Türkiye but also NATO.
Previously, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he believed Türkiye and the U.S. will make progress in talks and that Ankara will recoup the $1.4 billion it paid for the F-35s.
Noting that CAATSA sanctions were used against Türkiye as a political tool, Kurtulmuş said: "I believe these are unfair and double-standard sanctions." Türkiye has become a country that can produce its own defense needs and can even compete in the world in this field, he added. "Thus, of course, as an independent state, we will pay at least as much attention to our own national security priorities as we do to our alliances. In this context, Türkiye is never in an arms race. It is known that arms are a very dangerous and threatening development for the world. "But to hold its head up high, especially in our region where there is great turbulence, Türkiye must meet its own defense needs," he said.
Stressing that world developments offer new opportunities to Türkiye, Kurtulmuş said the country is mobilizing all its strength to solve problems and establish a global peace order by boosting cooperation and solidarity with many different regions.
"We share all our views with our interlocutors, especially on ensuring an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza crises. We invite people of different views around the world to make joint efforts, especially to establish a new, equitable world system. "It is no longer possible to solve any problem in the world with this (current) world system. It is not possible for any state or group to solve the world's problems alone," he said. He added that it is essential to establish a world system on both a political and economic scale with a new understanding by bringing different ideas to the table.
Meanwhile, Kurtulmuş spoke at the NATO Parliamentary Summit, as he urged allies to act in solidarity with Türkiye.
He noted that terrorism is the most direct asymmetrical threat to the bloc’s security, as he pointed to Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg’s previous remarks saying that no other NATO ally has been targeted by terrorists as much as Türkiye. He noted that the country has been targeted by terrorist groups, including the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), Daesh and PKK and its Syrian offshoots PYD/YPG. He continued by saying that Ankara wants its allies to support its counterterrorism fight and act in solidarity and good faith.
He also pointed to Ankara’s concerns about some allies’ restrictions on arms exports, saying that, it is a contradiction that NATO wants to boost its defense expenditures but some allies impose restrictions on Türkiye even though it defends the bloc’s southern front.
Kurtulmuş also touched upon the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza due to Israel’s attacks and called on all allies to say stop to Israel.
This bloodshed and the massacres of Israel must be stopped, he said, as he warned of regional spillover, which would pose a threat to regional and global security.
He reiterated Ankara’s calls for a cease-fire and unhindered access to humanitarian aid.
