Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan emphasized Thursday that Türkiye will continue to play a crucial role in European security.

“As NATO’s second-largest military, Türkiye will continue to play a crucial role in the European security architecture through its military capabilities and defense industry infrastructure,” Fidan told a press conference following a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Antalya, southern Türkiye.

He emphasized that the discussions in Antalya reaffirmed NATO’s leading role in the Euro-Atlantic security architecture, adding that Europe’s security cannot be considered separately from NATO.

“In such a period, our expectation is that all steps in the field of security should be taken without unnecessary repetition, divergence, or detachment from NATO,” Fidan said, adding that they raised these issues in both in alliance-wide meetings and bilateral talks.