Türkiye will press its European allies, which are set to significantly boost defense spending, to relax rules that currently mandate most of those funds be spent within the EU, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said on Wednesday.
Ankara also hopes a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will finally yield progress in lifting U.S. sanctions that expelled Türkiye from the F-35 fighter jet program, Güler told Reuters.
Güler said Türkiye, which has the second biggest army in NATO after the United States, has advanced capabilities in areas such as drones, which would be valuable to its allies as they plan major new spending on defense.
"Allies need to spend not only more, but also smarter – and there is a need for more cooperation than ever before," he said when asked about Trump's call on the alliance to ramp up defense spending to target 5% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Many European nations have announced plans for major increases in defense spending. The EU itself, driven by fears of a Russian attack and doubts about U.S. security commitments, has approved creating a 150 billion euro ($170 billion) EU arms fund to boost the defense industry, labeled the SAFE scheme.
But it mandates that 65% of projects are funded by firms in the bloc, the broader European Economic Area, or Ukraine.
Güler said such restrictions would exclude non-EU countries like Türkiye from Europe's defense and security architecture, which he said was "an issue that cannot be discussed only within the EU."
Türkiye wants to "build the security of the future together" with the EU, and would continue to work with "open-minded and visionary European allies within or outside SAFE," he said, specifically listing drones, air defenses, naval systems, armored vehicles and land platforms, electronic warfare and radar systems, ammunition and rocket systems.
Türkiye's defense industry has undergone a profound transformation over the last two decades, in a breakthrough that has been spurred by a score of Western embargoes.
The drive aimed at reducing external dependency on Western arms and prompted the development of a range of homegrown air, land and marine platforms, which eventually helped Türkiye seal billions of dollars worth of export deals in recent years.
The localization drive helped lower Türkiye's foreign dependency in the defense industry from around 80% in the early 2000s to some 20% today.
Türkiye's defense exports in 2024 surged nearly 30% annually to reach a new record high of $7.2 billion, according to official data.
Greece, Türkiye's longstanding adversary, has requested that Ankara lift a 30-year-old war threat over territorial waters to be permitted to access EU defense funds. Güler said such demands were a mistake, amounting to "involving multilateral platforms in bilateral disputes."
Türkiye and Greece have been at odds for decades over a range of issues, from airspace to the extent of their maritime boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean and the ethnically split island of Cyprus.
Tensions have eased in recent years and both countries agreed to reboot their relations, pledging to keep open channels of communication and work on the issues that have kept them apart.
Ankara's defense cooperation with its NATO allies has been hampered in recent years by U.S. sanctions imposed over a Turkish decision to buy Russian S-400 air defense systems, which resulted in Türkiye's expulsion from the U.S.-led F-35 program as both a buyer and manufacturer of the advanced jets.
Erdoğan has expressed confidence that Trump, with whom he has good personal ties, will find a solution that relieves Türkiye's defense industry of the sanctions.
A potential meeting between Erdoğan and Trump, and the close ties between them, can "breathe new life" into bilateral defense ties and help lift the sanctions, Güler said.
Although Ankara would not give up the S-400s, lifting the sanctions would let it consider returning to the F-35 project, he said.
