Türkiye is "evaluating all options" to boost its air defenses, including purchase of SAMP-T and Patriot systems, Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said on Tuesday.
Güler's remarks came ahead of a historic NATO summit in Ankara next week.
The defense chief said NATO is adjusting to a shifting security landscape and the United States is not seeking to leave the alliance.
Türkiye will host 32 NATO leaders, as well as officials from the Gulf and Asia-Pacific region, on July 7-8, amid tensions within the alliance over burden-sharing, defense spending, and U.S. complaints about allies' lack of involvement in reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Güler said the summit would focus on bloc unity, evaluating allies' increased defense spending, bolstering defense industry cooperation and increasing support for Ukraine.
Ankara should be involved in European defense initiatives, he told an interview with Reuters.
"NATO continues to be an unparalleled and fundamental platform for Euro-Atlantic security and defense. We evaluate the period we are going through not as a crisis, but as a process of adjusting to the changing security environment," Güler said.
He said the U.S. had no intention of withdrawing from NATO, but that it wanted European allies and Canada to assume more responsibility for the security of Europe, which he said must include Ankara in its defense plans and initiatives.
