Turkey is set to ratify military framework agreements with three Balkan nations, strengthening Ankara’s military presence in the region and expanding its strategic influence around Greece, Nordic Monitor reports, as cited by Inbox7.mk.
The agreements, signed in 2024 with Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia, come amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean. Greece has voiced concerns over Turkey’s growing defense partnerships, particularly in regions of historical and strategic significance. The Balkans have long been a battleground for influence between NATO allies and external powers, and Turkey’s deepening military ties with these countries signal a push for a more active role in regional security.
The Turkish parliament has fast-tracked these agreements, diverging from the typically lengthy review process for similar military pacts. Ankara views these deals as part of a broader strategy to enhance defense cooperation with neighboring and allied nations while countering regional security threats.
Under the agreements, Turkey and its partners will collaborate across various military and defense sectors, including training and education, joint exercises, defense industry cooperation, intelligence sharing, logistical support, medical services, cyber defense, peacekeeping missions, and handling mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). The pacts also allow for personnel exchanges, joint research in military science and technology, and operational cooperation in humanitarian and disaster relief missions.
Turkey sees these formal military agreements as a stepping stone toward deeper defense ties and future deals, serving as a reference point for broader cooperation in the defense industry. The strategy, initially linked to the sale of drones produced by Baykar, a company owned by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s son-in-law, has expanded to encompass a range of defense products.
Nordic Monitor previously reported that Turkey increasingly uses comprehensive framework agreements to shield subsequent military, defense, and intelligence pacts from public scrutiny. The report cited Brigadier General Esat Mahmut Yilmaz, head of the General Directorate of Legal Services at Turkey’s Ministry of Defense, who revealed this approach during a closed session of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee on May 21, 2024.
According to Yilmaz, Turkey merged the three agreements — initially negotiated separately — into a single framework to expedite engagement in foreign military operations.
Once ratified and published in the Official Gazette, these agreements will allow the Turkish military to forge secondary deals with foreign partners without requiring additional parliamentary approval. This method curtails public discourse on the scope and scale of Turkey’s overseas military activities. By streamlining the approval process, Ankara aims to eliminate bureaucratic hurdles and ensure continuity in its defense engagement. Analysts note that this approach mirrors strategies used in previous defense deals with African and Central Asian countries, where Turkey sought long-term defense partnerships through comprehensive legal frameworks.
Until recently, Turkey negotiated separate agreements for military training, defense industry cooperation, and general military collaboration. However, the government has now consolidated these processes into broader framework agreements. This tactic, applied particularly with partners in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia, aims to fast-track military operations, minimize bureaucratic obstacles, and keep secondary deals confidential. Such agreements have played a crucial role in expanding Turkey’s defense influence, especially in countries where Turkish military technology and training programs have been well-received.
“We previously presented these three agreements as separate documents to our parliament. However, we later combined them. Now, we negotiate them under a single framework and defense cooperation agreement,” Yilmaz stated.
As of December 2024, Turkey had signed military framework agreements with 89 countries and military training cooperation agreements with 65. Negotiations are ongoing with 47 nations for framework military agreements and with 13 for training agreements. Additionally, Turkey has signed defense industry cooperation deals with 90 countries.
Most international agreements processed by the Turkish parliament in recent years fall under these broad military frameworks. Notably, the Foreign Affairs Committee — rather than the Defense Committee — often oversees their review and approval, despite lacking expertise in military matters. This suggests an attempt by Erdogan’s administration to limit parliamentary oversight. Lawmakers critical of the government have voiced concerns over the lack of transparency in these deals, arguing that they grant excessive discretion to the executive branch in military affairs.
