ANKARA, July 11. /TASS/. The final declaration of the NATO summit, which paid great attention to Russia and its threats, shows that an atmosphere of US power and influence reigns in the alliance, the founder of the International Political Academy, associate professor at Kent University in Istanbul, Ozan Ormeci, told TASS.

"At the NATO Washington summit, Russia, China, Iran and North Korea were assessed as threats. In particular, the final document criticizes Russia's policy towards Ukraine. China is mentioned in a couple of points. In other words, Russia is still seen as the main threat. And this "certainly shows that there is an atmosphere within NATO based on the strength and influence of the current US administration," the expert said.

Ormeci drew attention to the fact that the alliance has decided to hold the 2026 summit in Turkey.

"This confirms the importance that NATO attaches to Ankara. At the same time, Turkey’s relations with NATO and the United States are not developing in the way Turkey would want to. The reason here is that the parties have different goals regarding Syria, the Kurds, Eastern Mediterranean," he said.

Ankara, as Ormeci recalled, "does not accept that the United States and some NATO allies are supporting Kurdish forces in Syria, and considers this contrary to the spirit of solidarity in the alliance."

"The United States and other Western states, in turn, criticize Turkey’s refusal to join sanctions against Russia and portray China as an enemy. And this position of Ankara is due to the fact that the current leadership of the republic supports the idea of multipolarity, since it does not trust the West after an attempt of coup d’etat in 2016 and wants to balance its relations with the West by interacting with Russia and China," Ormeci said.

However, the expert does not rule out that a number of provisions of the final declaration of the NATO summit may, to some extent, become binding for Turkey. This is due to economic problems in the country, the Ukrainian crisis, the resolution of which would make it easier for Turkey to find a balance between Russia and China and the West.

"The search for balance will continue. There is a nuance: if the United States and the West make certain concessions to Turkey on the issue of the Kurds or in the Eastern Mediterranean, then it may take a more pro-Western position," Ormeci believes.

News has been updated (12th July 2:12 Moscow time) - University name corrected