“The ongoing Iran-US war and the struggle for control of the Strait of Hormuz demonstrated that a regional problem actually could turn into a global problem so quickly,” said Mustafa Caner, a foreign policy researcher at the SETA Foundation. He was speaking to TRT World on the sidelines of the 36th NATO summit in Ankara, and his point was one the Alliance has been slow to absorb: the south now matters as much as the east.
For years NATO’s attention went to Russia and the eastern flank. Experts gathered at the “NATO Allies in Ankara” hub, run jointly by the Munich Security Conference and the SETA Foundation, said recent events have changed that. They agreed NATO must look harder at the region. They did not agree on what a bigger role should look like.
An older plan, a newer urgency
Caner said the push is not brand new. He pointed to the Southern Neighbourhood Action Plan, introduced at the Washington Summit two years ago, but said the war on Iran sharply raised the urgency. In his view NATO should strengthen the flank through members such as Türkiye, whose diplomatic ties across the region give it a particular position.
Kadir Temiz, president of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (ORSAM), took the argument further. “It clearly showed us there is a direct threat coming from our eastern neighbours to NATO countries,” he said. Regional conflicts can “easily infiltrate European security,” he argued, so NATO needs closer work with Middle Eastern partners and a strategy of “regional resilience.” Ankara, he said, is pushing two ideas inside the Alliance: regional ownership and regional resilience. Stronger state institutions and economic development, he added, would cut the need for later military interventions.
“Energy security, climate security and food security are all part of this comprehensive security dimension,” Temiz said.
Türkiye’s place in the Alliance
Several speakers dwelt on Türkiye itself. Defne Arslan of the Atlantic Council’s Türkiye Programmes in Washington said: “I cannot think of any conflict in the region that can be resolved without Türkiye.” She saw the choice of Ankara as host as a sign of that role at a time when tensions run from Ukraine to the Middle East.
Erman Akilli, a professor of international relations at Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University, pointed to Türkiye’s growing defence industry and its homegrown technology, including artificial intelligence. “A stronger Türkiye means a stronger Alliance,” he said.
Serhan Afacan, director of the Ankara-based Center for Iranian Studies (IRAM), described Türkiye as a firm backer of “regional ownership,” the idea that countries in the region should lead in settling its crises. Its advantage, he said, is that it can pair NATO’s collective defence with steady diplomacy. Ankara talks to both Iran and Western capitals. Yet Iran still sees Türkiye through its NATO membership. “They say, ‘We have bilateral relations … but at the end of the day, you are a NATO ally,’” Afacan said.
Threats that are not conventional
The experts also questioned what counts as a security threat. Hybrid warfare, cyber attacks, broken supply chains and maritime chokepoints are gaining weight next to traditional military dangers, they said. Caner cited Iran’s capacity to menace shipping in Hormuz. “This is not conventional warfare in the sense that we know,” he said. “That’s why NATO has to update itself based on these newly emerging threats.”
Akilli put it in one line: “NATO has been built on collective security. But it must be transformed into collective resilience.”
Summits of the Alliance are not annual. They are called at critical junctures, such as when policy is announced, members are admitted or major initiatives begin. The Madrid Summit in 2022 adopted a new Strategic Concept setting NATO’s priorities for the following decade.
Sources
- TRT World – Iran conflict thrusts NATO's southern flank to the centre of Alliance strategy
- The 2026 NATO Ankara Summit: Iran, Alliance Cohesion, and the Future of NATO’s Southern Flank
