ISTANBUL, June 29, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Turkey must be included in all of 
Europe's defence structures and defence trade restrictions between NATO 
members must be removed, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday ahead of 
a key NATO summit.

His remarks come as Europe revamps its defences to counter Russia and the 
risk of a US pullback from NATO, which is to hold a summit in the Turkish 
capital Ankara on July 7-8.

"Turkey's indispensable contributions to European security are sometimes 
overlooked," Erdogan told parliamentary delegates from all 32 NATO member 
states in Istanbul. He said Turkey wanted "to participate in all defence and 
security initiatives" on the continent.

At issue is Turkey's access to the European Union's 150-billion-euro ($176-
billion) Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative, intended to strengthen 
European defence capabilities.

"We expect your support, lawmakers, for Turkey's inclusion in the defence and 
security initiatives announced by the European Union," Erdogan told them.

Within SAFE, firms from non-EU countries such as Turkey, Britain and the 
United States can only supply up to 35 percent of the component costs of 
weaponry funded by the scheme.

If Turkey wants its companies to be able to tap a bigger part of the funds 
Ankara needs to sign a security partnership with the EU and then negotiate 
special access with Brussels -- a process that would require approval from 
all 27 EU members. Greece has threatened to block such a move.

"Under SAFE, any third country can participate in a defence project up to a 
level of 35 percent. Any negotiations with a view to potentially increasing 
or lifting this 35 per cent cap ... would require a bilateral agreement," 
said Thomas Regnier, a European Commission spokesperson.

"For now, this is not an agreement we have concluded with Turkey."

- 'Remove the obstacles' -

Erdogan also urged NATO to remove all barriers blocking defence industry 
trade between alliance members.

"If we want to overcome the challenges we face, we need to remove obstacles 
to defence industry trade while ensuring a balanced and fair burden-sharing 
among allies," he said.

Turkey has the second-biggest army of the alliance after the United States 
and a burgeoning defence industry which has gone from strength to strength 
fuelled by bilateral defence deals.

But its defence industry has been hit by US sanctions imposed over Ankara's 
purchase of an S-400 Russian surface-to-air missile defence system. 
Washington also booted Turkey out of its F-35 programme, in a move that has 
soured relations between the NATO allies.

Although Washington has expressed a desire to draw a line under the dispute, 
lifting the sanctions requires Congressional approval. Observers say there is 
little chance the showdown would be resolved before the summit.

US President Donald Trump has however pledged to give Erdogan something that 
would make him "very happy" when he flies in next week for the NATO 
gathering.

Analysts said it was likely to be a delivery of several dozen US-made F110 
engines Turkey needs for its fifth-generation KAAN fighter jets that are 
under development. Delivery of the engines had been blocked since the 
imposition of the US sanctions.