NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or colloquially the North Atlantic Alliance, is an organisation close to our UK history. It is a military alliance, established on the basis of the North Atlantic Treaty of 4 April, 1949. It guarantees military security of every and any country that is a NATO member. Given that Turkey’s location is merely one foot in Europe and lots of feet in Asia, does it also belong to NATO? Is Turkey a NATO Member State?
Is Turkey a NATO Member State?
Although NATO is made up almost exclusively of countries located in North America and Europe, there was still room for Turkey, a country whose majority is located in Asia. Thus, yes, Turkey is a member of NATO.
When did Turkey join NATO?
Turkey joined the North Atlantic Alliance very early, as early as 18 February 1952, less than 3 years after the establishment of NATO. This was the first enlargement of the Alliance, and along with Turkey, Greece was also admitted to NATO.
As such, Turkey has been a NATO member for longer than most countries on the list, over 70 years now. Though recently, Turkish relations with NATO have not been ideal, mainly due to the Turkey-US conflict of interest over Syria. Though there have been prompts that Turkey may be leaving NATO for some time now, nothing of the sort has happened so far and it may just be noise. Time will tell.
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