The German Defence Minister, B. Pistorius (centre), the Turkish Defence Minister, Y. Güler (right), and the Greek Defence Minister, N. Dendias (left), attended the signing of Turkey and Greece’s Letter of Intent to join the ETSI at the German NATO Mission in Brussels on 15 February 2025.
© picture alliance / Anadolu | TUR Ministry of National Defense
Omnipresent Yet Overlooked?
The Role of Turkey in German Thinking about European Security
From the German perspective, two factors hinder deeper security policy cooperation with Turkey: the general public scepticism towards all things military and a negative image of Turkey, whose current government is perceived as deeply undemocratic and anti-Western. Nevertheless, by approving arms exports for the Turkish Navy and withdrawing its veto against the delivery of Eurofighters, the outgoing Scholz government initiated a cautious turnaround in its policy towards Turkey. German diplomats are also open to greater security cooperation with Turkey. The Defence Ministry has long maintained that armaments cooperation should serve as a means of advancing a more strategically oriented German foreign policy – an approach it considers equally relevant to its relationship with Turkey. The CDU-led new government will further strengthen this trend.