Erdogan urges NATO allies to lift defence industry restrictions at summit

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Turkish President Erdogan urged NATO allies during a summit in Ankara to lift restrictions on defence industry cooperation. He emphasized that excluding non-EU members would create artificial divisions within European defence initiatives.

ANKARA, July 8 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that NATO allies must lift defence-industry restrictions among them, pressing the case for Ankara to break into some Europe-only initiatives. "Restrictions among allies on defence cooperation, especially in the defence industry, must be lifted," Erdogan told the opening of a summit of NATO leaders in Ankara. "At a time when a model of cooperation based on common sense and reason is possible, excluding allies that are not members of the (European) Union would lead to artificial divisions in Europe."