NATO Summit in Ankara Cements Turkey's Deeper Integration into Western War Economy, According to soL Haber
The NATO Summit held in Ankara this week served as more than a diplomatic gathering — it doubled as a showcase for arms manufacturers and cemented new defense-industry partnerships that bind Turkish capital more tightly to the broader war economy, according to a report published by the Turkish outlet soL Haber.
Running parallel to the summit, a "Defense Industry Forum" was staged at TUSAŞ facilities, functioning less as a conventional forum and more as an arms fair where military officials and executives unveiled new projects and signed symbolic contracts, soL Haber reported. Turkey took part as a participating country in all seven defense-industry projects announced at the gathering, according to the outlet. Details of two projects remain undisclosed, while the remaining five carry a combined value of $74 billion, with Turkey serving as a direct producer in four of them, soL Haber said.
Satellites, Radar and a Symbolic Green Light for KAAN
Among the announcements, NATO unveiled "Halo," a new initiative aimed at consolidating member states' military satellites under a shared framework as part of the alliance's push to integrate space technology more deeply into military operations, according to soL Haber. Under the initiative, Turkey received orders for two new high-resolution satellites to be built by TÜBİTAK in Ankara, in a deal reportedly worth at least $300 million, the outlet reported.
Turkish defense firm Aselsan also signed agreements to supply radar systems for the "Steel Dome" air-defense project to NATO countries and to contribute to a system enabling NATO's communication with low-orbit satellites, contracts soL Haber estimated at more than $350 million combined.
The report also noted that the White House had cleared the way before the summit for the export of jet engines for Turkey's KAAN fighter aircraft, with former President Trump reportedly signaling the move would please President Erdoğan. According to soL Haber, the mandatory 15-day U.S. congressional review period for the engine exports concluded without objection.
Drones, Missiles and a Controversial Palantir Partnership
Citing lessons from the wars in Ukraine and Iran, NATO members agreed in Ankara to commit $40 billion over five years to a new "NATO Drone Edge Initiative" aimed at boosting counter-drone capabilities, soL Haber reported, adding that Turkish firms are expected to be among the eventual contractors, though none have yet been named.
The summit also produced a commitment to purchase a "significant number" of Roketsan's long-range Atmaca missiles as part of a $1.6 billion program, and a separate $26 billion air-defense agreement signed by eight countries, including Turkey, according to the outlet. Aselsan and Roketsan are both expected to participate in that project — alongside Palantir, the U.S. data and artificial-intelligence firm that soL Haber described as having supplied AI systems used by American and Israeli forces in Gaza, Iran and Lebanon.
soL Haber argued that Turkey's growing role in NATO's air-defense architecture effectively integrates its defense infrastructure into Palantir's technological ecosystem, raising concerns the outlet framed as a form of "algorithmic tutelage" — with Turkey relying on AI-driven threat assessments trained according to U.S. and NATO priorities rather than independent national judgment. The report further contended that Palantir's business model, centered on aggregating and monopolizing data, would channel information on Turkish airspace activity directly into the company's platforms, effectively turning Turkey into what soL Haber called a "data-collection satellite" within the U.S. intelligence network.
A Long-Building Industrial Complex
soL Haber traced the roots of Turkey's defense sector to the late 1970s, when the armed forces established foundations to strengthen the army, navy and air force, which merged in 1987 into the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation (TSKGV) — the umbrella body from which companies such as Roketsan, Aselsan, Havelsan and TUSAŞ emerged. The creation of the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries in 1985, funded through levies on fuel, tobacco, alcohol and lottery revenue, built a financial structure largely shielded from parliamentary oversight, according to the report.
The outlet noted that TUSAŞ, the lead contractor on the KAAN jet program, relies on hundreds of subcontractors employing more than 2,000 workers at a dedicated industrial zone facing its Ankara campus — part of a wider supply chain soL Haber said now serves as a critical outlet for Turkish capital, generating profit margins the outlet said textile and food industries can no longer match.
Protests Amid the Summit
Two days before the summit, members of the Communist Party of Turkey (TKP) broke through a police cordon in Ankara to march to Kızılay Square, according to soL Haber, protesting both the security lockdown imposed on the capital and the hosting of arms executives at the presidential palace. The demonstrators called for Turkey's withdrawal from NATO and the closure of all foreign military bases in the country, the outlet reported, noting that the summit concluded while some of the protesters remained in police custody.
soL Haber characterized the outcome of the summit as further evidence that the war economy is being used as a vehicle for capital accumulation, arguing that Turkey's defense integration with NATO is being pursued at the expense of broader public accountability.
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