Türkiye bridge between 'West and West': Communications director

Türkiye's Communications Director Burhanettin Duran said on Tuesday that Ankara is often viewed as a bridge between East and West, but amid new crises the country now serves as a bridge "between West and West." "Türkiye is (a bridge) between West and West, through its diplomatic reach and its capacity to contribute to de-escalation," he said at the NATO Allies in Ankara event — hosted alongside the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) and the Munich Security Conference — urging allies to recognize Ankara's "strategic autonomy, operational experience and unique contribution to Euro-Atlantic security."

Duran described the gathering as "another turning point in NATO’s historical evolution," contrasting it with the 2004 Istanbul summit that shifted the alliance from Cold War defense into broader security. "Twenty-two years ago, Istanbul summit marked NATO’s evolution from a Cold War defense alliance into a broader security actor," he said, noting that current dynamics differ fundamentally from those of 2004. The alliance now faces renewed great power competition, regional conflicts and hybrid threats spanning the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf, Syria, Iraq, the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and the Sahel.

Burden-sharing and Modern Threats

The Communications Director urged NATO to treat challenges on its eastern and southern flanks as interconnected under the alliance's 360-degree approach rather than as separate domains. "For that, we need coherent policy instruments and a shared understanding of how military and non-military tools can work together. This is where burden-sharing becomes essential," he said. Defense spending represents a valuable political commitment, but building multi-layered strategies addressing cyber threats while investing in real military capacity remains the priority, he noted.

Defense Industry Assets

Türkiye has raised its defense spending above NATO's 2% threshold, with the budget growing from $13 billion in 2021 to an estimated $33 billion in 2025, while defense and aerospace exports have surpassed $10 billion and domestic production reached 82%. "Türkiye’s defense industry has become a national asset with direct value for allied collective deterrence," Duran said, citing combat-tested systems, air defense capabilities and scalable production. Cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns and AI-enabled manipulation have become regular features of strategic competition that must be integrated into NATO's defense doctrine rather than treated as secondary concerns, he stated.