Why wasn't Abdullah GÜL or Ahmet DAVUTOĞLU the new boss of NATO?

Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark RUTTE is the new Secretary General

It's official! At the North Atlantic Council yesterday morning, with the full agreement of 32 allied countries, it was decided that former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte would replace Jens Stoltenberg as the new Secretary General of NATO, effective 1 October 2024. I think that Rutte, the new resident of the Secretary General's Residence in Evere, is a good choice for NATO, considering his political and diplomatic experience. Indeed, the statement made by the Turkish Foreign Ministry on this issue also reflected the satisfaction with this agreement in one aspect: "Today the Allies unanimously approved the Prime Minister of the Netherlands to lead our Alliance."

As far as I know, there is no formal process for the election of the Secretary General within NATO. NATO members first reach a preliminary consensus on who should be appointed as the next Secretary General, and then hold the formal vote. The pre-consensus procedure usually takes place through unofficial diplomatic channels. However, in some periods, this process can be quite controversial. For example, in 2009, there was a controversy over the election of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as NATO Secretary General due to Turkey's veto at the beginning of the process, which was eventually 'sweetened' with the intervention of then US President Obama before the vote in Strasbourg.

How was Mark Rutte Elected?

Mark Rutte is a political leader portrayed as an expert practitioner of democratic consensus in the Netherlands. The fact that he has skilfully kept many coalitions consisting of different political groups together in the last 14 years is shown as proof of this.

Rutte resigned on 7 July 2023 upon the breakdown of the coalition government in the Netherlands. He announced that he would continue as prime minister until the new government was formed and then leave active politics. Meanwhile, after it became clear that the post of Norwegian Stoltenberg, who has been serving as NATO Secretary General for 10 years, would not be extended for another term, Rutte declared that he was a candidate for NATO Secretary General.

Rutte, who gained the support of many countries including Turkey in a short time on his candidacy journey, finally received the approval of Hungary on 18 June. Upon these developments, on 20 June, the other candidate, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, announced his withdrawal from the Secretary General race. This left Rutte as the only candidate for NATO's highest political office. After the permanent representatives of all member states approved Dutch Prime Minister Rutte to serve as the new Secretary General at the 26 June session, it became certain that Rutte would take over the post from Jens Stoltenberg on 1 October.

What does the NATO Secretary General do?

The Secretary General of NATO is responsible for coordinating the functioning of NATO as an international organisation, managing NATO's international staff, the meetings of the North Atlantic Council and most of the organisation's important committees. His/her interlocutors are the heads of government and/or state of the allied countries, their respective ministers, including defence and foreign affairs, their Generals/Admirals at the four-star level, and Generals/Admirals in high command positions within NATO.

Apart from the NATO Military Committee, the Secretary General also acts as NATO's spokesperson. The Secretary General certainly has no role in military command. Political, military and strategic decisions within the Alliance are ultimately the prerogative of the member states. However, as one of NATO's highest-ranking officials, the Secretary General is the leading facilitator and main coordinator of the Alliance's political wing, working closely with the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and the Alliance Operations Commander (SACEUR) and the Alliance Transformation Commander (SACT). He engages with the political and military wings of each country, conducts preliminary coordination and, when necessary, visits countries. In addition, as part of the NATO defence planning process, NATO holds scheduled meetings in Brussels and/or in the relevant capitals with the relevant representatives of member states to encourage them to contribute to the enhancement of the Alliance's military strength, for example by spending more than 2% of their gross national product on defence, as targeted by the Alliance.

Turkey's Situation

In a previous article, I had stated that the Commander of the NATO Headquarters (LANDCOM) in Izmir should be a Turkish General and that this would be a more appropriate practice for Turkey. Although a Turkish General had been in charge of this headquarters during the years when it was a sub-command in the NATO command echelon as a sub-command in the LANDSOUTHEAST function, with the recent arrangements, it was for some reason 'deemed inappropriate' for a Turkish General to sit at the head of LANDCOM, which is responsible for NATO's land operations at the 'specialised' level!

"While recognising the importance of the USA as the leader of the Alliance, arrangements should be made to ensure that NATO's largest and most important military participants, both old and new (USA, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Italy, Sweden, Turkey and Poland), are represented by four stars. Because of Turkey's size and importance, a four-star Turkish General should sit in the LANDCOM command post." In this context, I consider that taking steps to make the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee a Turkish General is an appropriate and necessary representation task for Turkey, which has the second largest army in NATO. 

In relation to this issue, it would have been elegant for a former politician to be a candidate for NATO Secretary General for Turkey's proper and dignified representation in the Alliance in proportion to its power. I find it strange that even Romania, which became a member of NATO in 1999, almost 50 years after us, nominated a candidate during this year's election process for NATO Secretary General, while we have not shown any willingness for this position so far. I see it as a situation that does not befit Turkey's greatness.

The fact that very few Turks have so far served as Deputy Secretary-General of the Alliance (Ambassador Tacan İLDEM as "Public Diplomacy" and Ambassador Hüseyin DİRİÖZ as Deputy Secretary-General in charge of "Defence Policy and Planning"), let alone as NATO Secretary-General, can only be regarded as a political incompetence. I was one of those who believed that the nomination of Abdullah GÜL, former Foreign Minister, former Prime Minister and former President, or Ahmet DAVUTOĞLU, former Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister, as Turkey's candidate for the post vacated by Stoltenberg would be a nomination process with valuable outputs in terms of demonstrating Turkey's willingness on this issue and raising political awareness throughout the country, even if they could not be elected. 

I believe that Turkey now has an obligation in its vision to strive for a Turkish politician to serve as NATO Secretary General in the 2030s. I believe that our political parties should include this issue in their programmes and bring it up from time to time as part of their vision, and that Turkey should make efforts now to place a Turkish politician in NATO's most prestigious political staff, as it should be within the Alliance. I believe that we should already start lobbying among the allies for a Turkish politician/diplomat to serve as the next NATO Secretary General. If we do not start this process today, it will be too late tomorrow.

Conclusion

NATO's highest military authority, the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Powers in Europe, has been an American General since the creation of NATO. The supreme commander is American. It has therefore become a traditional practice that the political wing of the Alliance is also represented by a European. On the other hand, there is no provision in NATO legislation that would prevent a Canadian or an American from becoming Secretary General.

In this context, former Dutch Prime Minister Rutte, a European, was elected as the new Secretary General. As of 1 October 2024, he will lead the political wing of NATO, ensure NATO solidarity, operate the consultation mechanism between NATO countries in times of crisis, and lead the work of the Alliance processes in case of war. It is a challenging task. It is expected that a person with a political background, a high level of diplomatic experience and a recognised experience in international relations will take on this task. As a person who served in NATO for 5 years in the military wing, I have witnessed the role and importance of the person in the position of NATO Secretary General in the meetings. According to these impressions, I can say that the new Secretary General, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, is a good choice for this task.

Maybe not for today, but tomorrow we will definitely witness that a Turkish politician, a former Foreign Minister, is nominated by Turkey for this post. With the belief that after 80 years a Turkish politician and/or diplomat will sit in NATO's highest office, I invite Turkish politics to take ownership of this issue. I hope that the necessary steps will be taken on time and we will experience this honour as a nation.