UK military: Turkey an asset in dealing with Russian military interventions

The recently published UK defence review singles out Turkey as one of the important pillars of Britain's global strategic vision, in particular as a bulwark against Russia.

Published on Monday this week, the document by the country's Minister of Defense follows last week's Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, which outlined Britain's priorities following Brexit in the years to come.

In the document, the UK Ministry of Defence states that Turkey is a "crucial NATO ally" essential to regional security.

After the US, Turkey has the largest standing army in NATO, the military alliance originally established in 1948 which has now grown to encompass 30 countries.

The UK government sees Turkey as playing a role "in many aspects of wider regional security, including the fight against terrorism."

The review also sees Russia in stark terms arguing that the country "continues to pose the greatest nuclear, conventional military and sub-threshold threat to European security. Modernisation of the Russian armed forces, the ability to integrate whole of state activity and a greater appetite for risk, makes Russia both a capable and unpredictable actor."

In turn, the UK argues Turkey is already on the front line dealing with Russian attempts to expand its influence.

Turkey, argues the report, is "dealing directly with Russia's military interventions in the Mediterranean and [the] Black Sea regions. We will work to cement a long-term relationship on operations (including NATO reassurance measures), capabilities and industrial co-operation."

The review underscores the importance the UK places on Turkey to provide security for the wider alliance and ensure that emerging security challenges can be tackled together.

Turkey will likely see the report as a confirmation of the unique relationship between the two countries that, while present before Brexit, has taken on even more importance after the UK's departure from the European Union.

Interestingly the report released this week makes no mention of the European Union (EU) as a security partner, instead, the document opted in naming individual European countries and their relationship to the UK's defence posture.

Similarly, the broader review last week only mentioned the EU twice. Britain's security establishment's move to speak about individual European states as opposed to the political bloc is an indication that Britain and the EU are yet to work out a defence relationship.

Britain may also view it as politically advantageous and expedient to speak with individual countries, given the growing hostility of the EU towards the UK.

What else does the UK defence review say?

The 100-page review singles out a rising China as “by far the most significant geopolitical factor in the world today. China poses a complex, systemic challenge.”

However, the UK was careful to temper its language last week with the government stressing that “China will contribute more to global growth than any other country in the next decade with benefits to the global economy.”

The army will see numbers dropping to 72,500 by 2025, a cut of about 10,000, resulting in the smallest the army has been in more than 200 years.

In the past, the United States has warned Britain that it risked being unable to sustain deployments around the world if it cut troop numbers even further.

The most recent defence review is likely to dismay Washington but it also reflects the economic fallout the pandemic is having on military budgets.