Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte discussed the current security situation, including in the Black Sea, during talks in Brussels on Tuesday.
They also discussed Türkiye’s “excellent contributions to NATO’s deterrence and defence”, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said on X.
Fidan met Rutte during his visit to Belgium, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Turkish social media platform NSosyal.
Fidan is attending the fourth Türkiye-Belgium ministerial meeting alongside Turkish Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci and Justice Minister Akin Gurlek.
Increased drone incidents over the Black Sea
The meeting comes amid increased drone incidents over the Black Sea. On October 17, Romania said it shot down two drones that entered its airspace over the Black Sea.
NATO has previously shot down four drones in Romania's airspace, all of them this year.
In another incident reported on October 13, two ships were struck off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast.
"The Black Sea has become another front of escalation of the Russian war in Ukraine. This is unacceptable," von der Leyen commented on the incident.
Türkiye, Romania and Bulgaria agreed to expand their existing Black Sea naval cooperation earlier in July.
Belgium highlights Türkiye’s industrial role
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said on October 13 that Türkiye had an important role to play in helping Europe reduce its strategic dependencies, particularly in key industrial sectors.
“Türkiye has an important role to play, not only as an industrial market but also as a gateway to markets in the wider region,” Prevot said, highlighting the country’s manufacturing capacity, industrial expertise and links to neighbouring markets.
“We should make values of its proximity, particularly in sectors where Europe needs to reduce strategic dependencies,” he added.
Prevot described Türkiye as a NATO ally, an EU candidate country and a major industrial economy connecting Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He said its capabilities could help make European supply chains more resilient.
