Turkey's New Role in NATO

摘要

In January 2020 at an event in Brussels with high-ranking NATO ambassadors from Germany and the US, the audience asked an important question: Would Turkey's political stance continue to be bearable as a member of NATO? The answer from both officials was a diplomatic Yes! The arguments made were accurate, because Turkey plays a major role in the fight against terrorism and at the same time makes a major contribution to controlling migration. Moreover, because of its geopolitical interface with the Middle East, Central Asia and Europe, Turkey is of immense importance to NATO. As of 1 January 2021, the Turkish Army has taken over the lead of NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), placing thousands of soldiers on standby, ready to deploy within days. This spearhead force is based on the 66th Turkish Mechanised Infantry Brigade with about 4,200 soldiers from a total of 6,400 soldiers serving in the VJTF, which includes units from Albania, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, the UK and the US. NATO leaders had set up the VJTF at the Wales Summit in 2014 because of Russia's destabilisa-tion of Ukraine and ongoing troubles in the Middle East.