We are at the NATO leaders' summit in Washington.
This year’s summit began with a family photo, taken in the hall where the founding agreement was signed by just 12 nations 75 years ago.
Although Washington was specially chosen for the 75th anniversary, Americans, and even the participants, were focused more on U.S. President Joe Biden and whether he would forget things during his speech.
The American media, too, is more focused on Biden’s potential withdrawal from the presidential race than the NATO summit itself. Judging by his actions and speeches, Biden is being tested one more time.
There is reason to believe that the pressure and various calls for Biden to withdraw from the candidacy will intensify after the summit. For Biden, not stumbling and not forgetting his words over the three days will be considered a success.
Biden’s performance at the summit is important not only for Americans but also for the participating leaders with an eye on NATO’s future.
Europe has already started debating the alliance’s future in the event that Donald Trump wins in November. During his tenure, Trump described NATO as an "obsolete" organization, talked about withdrawing from the alliance, and stated that Europe, which did not spend enough for its own defense, should not rely on his country for its security. He even went so far as to say that "Russia could do whatever it wants against these countries."
The possibility of Trump being reelected affected the decisions made at the summit. Especially for the future of Ukraine, the decision to increase both financial and military aid, as well as to establish a "special unit for the training and coordination of military aid" for the Ukrainian army, should be evaluated in this context.
Although the two main focuses of the summit were the Russia-Ukraine war and China in the Asia-Pacific region, these issues are actually intertwined. The alliance, which had not officially mentioned China in its statements until 2019, for the first time accused China of openly supporting Russia. This means that NATO has officially included China in its close threat assessment. In the coming days, economic sanctions will begin to be discussed based on China's stance.
The most experienced leader at the summit, and the longest-serving participant, was President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Türkiye is not an ordinary member of the alliance. In this context, it was significant that 10 different themes concerning Türkiye were highlighted in the final communique.
It is possible to include the following topics among these: updating the documents determining the strategy for counterterrorism, which is seen as the second threat NATO faces; protecting NATO allies against ballistic missile threats; and supporting the view that NATO is the only security umbrella for the EU-NATO relationship.
Türkiye has the second-largest army in the alliance. It has its own security interests. Despite being one of NATO's most important members, the alliance has unfortunately not fulfilled its duties in eliminating the threats against Türkiye and in joint efforts.
Even though it was decided that terrorism is the second biggest threat NATO faces, Türkiye's allies openly continue to support the PYD-PKK terrorist organization. They openly act with double standards regarding terrorism.
That the possibility of peace or a cease-fire regarding the Russia-Ukraine war was not mentioned at the summit was a shortcoming. Although many European NATO members think differently about the future of the war, it is no secret that they cannot speak up.
In this regard, Türkiye distinguished itself from the rest by maintaining high-level dialogue with both sides. It has made great efforts for mediation between the parties. Türkiye still continues the most active effort to end the war through peaceful means.
In conclusion, this year's NATO summit focused on making decisions in advance to reduce the fragility of the alliance in case Trump is elected. Despite being a symbolic summit in terms of the venue, the debate over whether Biden will run for candidacy overshadowed the summit's agenda. Despite all discussions, the fact that the 32-member defense and security alliance has remained standing for so long can be considered an achievement.
