United Kingdom and Turkey sign security and defence partnership agreement

On Wednesday, the United Kingdom and Turkey signed a new security and defence partnership agreement on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara. The agreement aims to strengthen strategic cooperation regarding security challenges within the Euro-Atlantic area. It establishes new permanent mechanisms for political and military consultations. Key areas of focus include defence technology, industrial cooperation, cybersecurity, counter-terrorism, hybrid threats, critical infrastructure, and space security. Both nations committed to increasing defence spending to meet NATO capabilities and bolster European security. Analysts have clarified that the agreement does not create automatic military intervention obligations beyond existing NATO treaty requirements. It does not constitute a mutual military assistance treaty and lacks a specific assistance clause similar to the 2021 Greek-French defence agreement.