What is the US NATO representative's tour of Incirlik and Izmir preparing for?!

According to the government and its media, hours remain until the summit in Ankara, where "the future of NATO will be shaped and Turkey will be placed at the center of European security."

As important as this war machine is, it did not stop at turning Ankara into a barrier city; operations were launched all over the country. TEMA activists and those known for their anti-NATO stance were detained and arrested. The Parliament, which continued to work even when the enemy reached Polatlı, was shut down; is there anything beyond that?

It is obvious that Özgür Özel, the elected leader of the CHP, does not want to offend NATO; but as the head of the party that led the National Struggle, instead of holding a group meeting at the National Sovereignty Park right next to the Parliament to protest this situation, he is moving the group to Eskişehir—is that a good thing?

While it is claimed that we are in the strongest period of our history, it is clear that these exaggerated measures are not taken merely for security concerns or because of a few protests, but to prevent the discussion of NATO, and even more so, to prevent "anti-NATO sentiment." Is there any other explanation for RTÜK's warning to the media to "observe the perspective of public interest and national security in news and discussion programs"?!

LOVE FOR THE TSK

It is assumed that tough negotiations will be held in Ankara over two days and historic decisions will be made. However, everything was cooked up in the NATO-US-EU kitchen months, even years ago. The leaders will just pretend to have met and pose for photos, and Turkey will be left with the glory of being a "magnificent host"!..

On the agenda, beyond burden-sharing, the Russia-Ukraine war, the China threat, and cybersecurity issues, the matter that concerns our country the most is the announcement of NATO's "new security architecture in the Middle East." This is why Gulf countries are also being invited.

It wasn't long ago, just 15 years, that they tore apart our TSK (Turkish Armed Forces) with plots calling it a "center of tutelage" and smothered our defense industry with embargoes; are you aware of the love and enthusiasm with which they have embraced them before the summit?

Matthew Whitaker, the US Permanent Representative to NATO, is one of them. While this individual boasts about selling $6 billion worth of weapons to NATO allies, their provision of these to Ukraine, and Ukraine "continuing to do a great job" against Russia, he stated that they do not support the EU's "protectionist rhetoric" that excludes allies outside of its member states, and that this might come up at the Ankara summit.

Our media was overjoyed, running headlines like, "US NATO representative shows Turkish defense industry as an example... Praise for Turkey: Turkey is a very strong ally... All our allies should be like Turkey."

For some reason, these words were ignored:

"I am very excited to be going to Turkey again. I was there just a month ago; I visited Incirlik, Izmir, Ankara, and Istanbul for 4 days to inspect the summit preparations on-site."

Since the summit is to be held in Ankara, what did Incirlik, Izmir, and Istanbul have to do with it? After a little research, we saw that on May 16, he came to Istanbul with our Permanent Representative to NATO, Ambassador Basat Öztürk, and met with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and in Ankara with Defense Minister Yaşar Güler. While our officials did not disclose what was discussed, Whitaker posted, "We had great meetings. We discussed the wonderful preparation work Turkey has done for the NATO Summit. Turkey's commitment to protecting Alliance assets and increasing defense spending shows the strength of our bilateral relations."

What followed is important; on May 18, the US NATO Representative went to Incirlik again with our representative Basat Öztürk, visiting key points throughout the facility and meeting with Turkish and US military officials. During the visit, it was noted "how ready and equipped Incirlik is to support Turkey in sustaining any NATO mission that may be needed," and also how it "secures US interests in Europe and on a global scale." They also inspected the Spanish Patriot air defense system at Incirlik.

We were not aware of this, but an old US military defense news magazine, referring to the visit in question, stated that it "highlighted how Incirlik has become a critical hub for multinational air operations... missile defense coordination and rapid power projection," and summarized the assessments as follows:

"Incirlik Air Base, located near Adana in Southern Turkey, continues to be one of NATO's most strategically important military facilities due to its proximity to Syria, Iraq, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Black Sea region, and the Caucasus. The air base allows allied aircraft to carry out intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, aerial refueling, and rapid response missions within hours, providing rapid access to multiple operational theaters simultaneously... At the same time, Turkey continues to advance its domestic missile defense capabilities through its national 'Steel Dome' initiative and the development of the long-range SİPER air defense system. However, despite significant progress in domestic defense technology, Ankara still relies heavily on NATO's integrated missile defense architecture to counter advanced ballistic missile threats and provide comprehensive regional air defense coverage. The visit by Whitaker and Öztürk was of significant political and military importance in publicly reaffirming operational cooperation between Washington and Ankara despite periodic tensions. More importantly, it was emphasized how Incirlik Air Base plays a central role in NATO's future force deployment planning as the alliance transitions to more integrated, multinational defense networks capable of responding to simultaneous crises in Europe and the Middle East."

As for Izmir; the two ambassadors also visited the NATO Allied Land Command there, and the US Ambassador made the following post:

"Had a great meeting with US soldiers and Allies – trained, lethal, and ready. By maintaining land domain readiness, interoperability, and standardization, we are securing peace with the power of LANDCOM, keeping Americans and our Allies safe."

In the words of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan; since we "align" with the US on everything from Ukraine to Syria, Iraq to Lebanon, and the Gaza Peace Plan, are considered the "only adult in the room" at NATO, and are working to end conflicts in the region, let us ask the following:

- What is the reason and goal of these plans, especially regarding Incirlik?

- Since Trump's requests have been fulfilled to the letter so far and such a blank check has been given to NATO, if our soldiers are requested to be "ground forces" against Iran tomorrow, will it be possible to say "no"?

- It won't happen, but in a hot development regarding Israel, Greece, or Cyprus, will the US and NATO stand by them as they have until now, or will they stand by us?

WHAT IS OUR AGENDA IN NATO 3.0?

They say the NATO Ankara Summit is "historic"; at another "historic" summit, we not only accepted the appointment of Rasmussen, who considered cartoons insulting Prophet Muhammad as "freedom of expression" and supported the PKK, as Secretary General, but we also unconditionally accepted France's return to NATO's military wing.

At another "historic" summit, we approved the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland even though none of our conditions were met.

In this case, is it not worth wondering what kind of "historic" development will take place in NATO 3.0 and what our priorities are as Turkey?

They need us, they love us very much; but as Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated, since the US approval of F-35 sales despite CAATSA sanctions and the resolution of NATO countries' relations with terrorist organizations have been left to "God willing," let's look at other issues.

For example, while the NATO membership of the Greek Cypriot side was mentioned in the recently adopted European Parliament report, did Turkey put an end to this issue by saying "never"?

Or will there be an accounting for the stalling tactics used to keep us out of the EU's new 150 billion Euro defense credit (SAFE) mechanism due to the veto of Greece and the Greek Cypriot side? Even Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan admitted in a program he attended four days ago, "Restrictions regarding the market are an understandable issue. No one wants to share a market with anyone else. For example, the SAFE issue is entirely about the market... Here we see that Europe is acting with increasing protectionism, meaning 'I don't want to let anyone else access my own market with my own money'." While he said this, one of the government's media outlets was able to write yesterday, "It was very important for us to be included in the multi-billion Lira SAFE fund, from which we were previously kept away due to the Greek side and Greece. This fund provides significant contributions to our defense industry," is that a good thing?

Or what will be our stance against our neighbor, co-religionist, and historical peer Iran being officially targeted in NATO's new security architecture regarding the Middle East?

WHAT IS THE GENOCIDAL OCCUPIER DOING AT ANITKABİR?

We know that for the government, Trump's arrival is more important than the NATO Summit. That is why, especially Foreign Minister Fidan, they are bragging about Trump "coming for Erdoğan."

Who is the one being bragged about; someone who carries out occupation plans and banditry both in our region and in many parts of the world, and who commits genocides together with Israel.

Just look at his latest statement; he says about Netanyahu, "We get along very well. He knows who the boss is." While stating that they paused talks with Iran for a week due to the funeral ceremony of the religious leader Ali Khamenei, whom they killed, he can offer a justification like, "They are all there. We could neutralize them all with a single shot, but we won't do that. Because then there would be no one left to negotiate with."

As is known, he is supposed to go to Anıtkabir first in Ankara, and then to Erdoğan. I don't know about you, but the fact that such a man will pollute Anıtkabir with his dirty ambitions and feet does not sit well with me at all!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

July 6, 2026